Scope and arrangement
The Joffrey Ballet company records date from 1877 to 2017 (bulk 1956-2013) and document the administrative, promotional, and creative output of the company between from its inception in 1956 to the present day. The collection is arranged into eleven series: Photographs; Production and Technical Files; Scores; Programs; Press and Publicity; Company Files; Posters; Works of Art; Costumes and Artifacts; Designs; and Recordings. The recordings are currently unavailable, pending digitization. Photographs, production and technical files, and scores comprise the majority of the collection.
The Joffrey Ballet Company records are arranged in ten series:
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1940-201548.13 linear feet (139 boxes, 16 oversize folders). 240.72 gigabytes (46,245 computer files)
Series I: Photographs provides rich documentation of the workings of The Joffrey through images of classes, rehearsals, productions, and events from its inception in 1956 to 2015. This series also contains early photographs of Joffrey and Arpino in the 1940s, prior to their advent of the company. Photograph formats primarily consist of black and white prints and color slides. The vast majority of the photographs were taken by Herbert Migdoll after he joined the company as staff photographer in 1968. Photographs taken prior to 1968 are by James Mitchell, James Howell, Martha Swope, and Miss M. J. Baylis, among others.
The arrangement of the photographs series is in line with the original order maintained by the Joffrey Ballet Company administration. The majority of this series is comprised of the Ballets subseries, which is arranged alphabetically by ballet. Other subseries include Events, Festivals, and Tours; Marketing Photographs; Joffrey Ballet: An American Classic; Founders' Files, and Miscellaneous and Unsorted Photographs.
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1958-201657.5 linear feet (141 containers). 116.56 megabytes (186 computer files)
Series II: Production and Technical Files document the technical and creative aspects of nearly every ballet in the Joffrey repertoire between 1958 and 2016. This series consists of performance reports and prompt books; and files arranged in three different sections: by ballet, by location, and by date. In addition to documenting the company's output, this series also showcases the company's changing administrative styles and filing arrangements.
The files contain a wide array of document types, including lighting plots; production calendars; cue sheets; ground plans; and production cost summaries. Information on props, costumes, and make-up; cast and staff lists; annotated programs; performance notes; and photographs are also present. Materials pertaining to dance festivals, such as Blossom, Jacob's Pillow, Wolftrap, Artpark, or others, can be found throughout this series.
Performance reports contain program or cast changes, start, finish, and run times, and remarks for each ballet. Many have attached handwritten announcements, and programs are sometimes attached to the reports.
Production and technical files are predominantly labelled by ballet, and infrequently by an artist's name, such as the choreographer Agnes de Mille. Multiple productions of a ballet may be represented under each title.
Of note are the files for the original Joffrey production of Billboards, which contain several lighting designs and technical information; costume fabric swatches for Cotillon and Dream Dances; and substantial prop files for Le Sacre du Printemps and Romeo and Juliet. Files for The Nutcracker are robust, and contain administrative materials, box office documentation, contracts, notes on children's parts and logistics, and financial statements. Astarte files contain lighting templates (gobos), a fabric sample for a drop, a musical score by Crome Syrcus, and documents from the 2002 restaging.
Files arranged by location document The Joffrey's tours. Researchers interested in a specific ballet should also refer to the alphabetically arranged sub-series. The activity of The Joffrey between 1999 and 2004 is primarily documented through the final sub-series, arranged chronologically.
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1926-201084.08 linear feet (335 boxes)
The scores contain the sheet music that accompanied Joffrey Ballet performances dating from 1961 to 2010. The scores are organized into four subseries: orchestra parts, piano, choral, and full (conductor's) scores. Within each subseries, the scores are arranged alphabetically by ballet.
The bulk of the scores are for sets of orchestra parts, many of which are annotated by the conductors, musicians, or composers, with some containing detailed performance or dance notes. Generally, the date given is the date of the Joffrey premiere of the work. Most of the scores are published, but some are manuscripts, often being those commissioned by the Joffrey.
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1945-201717.92 linear feet (43 boxes)
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1956-201351.0 linear feet (125 boxes). 15.21 gigabytes (1,527 computer files)
The Press and Publicity series contains clippings and articles arranged by year; dancer, choreographer, and staff files; ballet fact sheets; press releases; and marketing and mailing samples.
The majority of this series is comprised of clippings and articles arranged chronologically. The Joffrey frequently used clippings services to assemble their files, which are meticulously arranged by month. This subseries is a straightforward resource for those interested in the reception of specific Joffrey tours or productions for a given time period.
Dancer, choreographer, and staff files contain headshots and biographical information on each individual associated with the company. These files are listed alphabetically as a range in the container list, but a full listing of names is available as an additional resource.
Ballet fact sheets were often created by the Joffrey Ballet Company press staff after the initial debut of the ballet. The files in this subseries may contain multiple versions of each fact sheet. The fact sheet files may also contain other information used for the publicity and marketing of the ballets, such as articles, thumbnail biographies of choreographers, marketing information, program outlines, and press photographs.
Marketing files are arranged by season and contain printed brochures, mailings, subscription information, special event fliers, announcements, and articles.
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1877-201325.29 linear feet (64 boxes). 28.03 gigabytes (9,688 computer files)
Company files consist of administrative, personal, and project files held by Robert Joffrey, Gerald Arpino, and Herbert Migdoll, respectively, as well as some general administrative files maintained by office staff. The series contains a wide variety of material types, including correspondence, mailing lists, memoranda, invoices, rights acquisitions, and financial reports; company history; photographs; awards; scrapbooks; and files pertaining to Joffrey Ballet: An American Classic.
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1955-201518.18 linear feet (32 boxes, 4 oversize folders, 30 tubes)
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1975-20030.97 linear feet (4 boxes, 1 oversize folder)
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1973-19932.5 linear feet (7 boxes)
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1963-20040.73 linear feet (36 containers)
Designs are arranged into four sections: Lighting Designs, Models, Scenic Designs, and Stage Designs. A small amount of costume designs for an unknown production preceded the sections. The models in the collection are for The Nutcracker and Cotillon.