Scope and arrangement
The Nancy Reynolds papers, dating from the 1980s to 2014 (bulk dates 1990s), primarily document the George Balanchine Foundation's commitment to continuing Balanchine's legacy as well as the day-to-day operations of this non-profit foundation. The collection also contains files on the publication No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century.
The collection is arranged into two main groups, the George Balanchine Foundation files, and No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century files files.
The George Balanchine files document the coaching of excerpts of important Balanchine ballets through the George Balanchine Foundation Video Archives. In a studio setting, dancers from the original casts, those on whom he created the choreography as well as other leading dancers who worked closely with him, were invited to coach and teach their roles on camera to dancers of today, thus passing on some of Balanchine's earliest ideas about some of his greates works. International artists include Maria Tallchief, Dame Alicia Markova, Arthur Mitchell, and Frederic Franklin.
The files also document other major projects such as Popular Balanchine (Popular Balanchine Dossiers), which was designed to compile material about Balanchine's work as a choreographer and artistic collaborator for revues, the popular stage, and movies.
Other files include correspondence; edited scripts and commentary; oral history transcripts; notes; press books; promotional materials; dance publications; performance and rehearsal photographs that feature Balanchine, and the New York City Ballet; and performance audio and video materials.
The second group consists of files created during the research and preparation for the publication No Fixed Points: Dance in the Twentieth Century. The files hold extensive correspondence between Reynolds and her co-author Malcolm McCormick, correspondence with the publisher, promotional material, oral history transcripts, press clippings, and notes.
Other materials not related to the foundation are Reynold's research files used for Ballet, Bias and Belief: Three Pamphlets Collected and Other Dance Writings of Kirstein (1983); and assorted photographs of dancers and performances.