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Creator
Greene, Jonnie
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 528
Physical description
1.70 linear feet (5 boxes)
Language
English
Preferred Citation
Jonnie Greene papers, (S) *MGZMD 528. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

Jonnie Greene (1929-) is a retired American performing arts critic who directed two dance symposiums, Rethinking the Balanchine Legacy and Classic Black, at the New York Public Library in the 1990s. The Jonnie Greene papers date from the 1930s to 2000 and primarily document these symposiums and Dance Critics Association conferences with interview transcripts, photographs, grant proposals, correspondence, programs, and audio and video recordings.

Biographical/historical information

Jonnie Greene is a retired American performing arts critic who directed two dance symposiums at the New York Public Library in the 1990s. Born in 1929, Greene wrote for King Features Syndicate and co-founded the Dance Critics Association, directing several of its conferences in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1993, her symposium on George Balanchine, Rethinking the Balanchine Legacy, took place at the New York Public Library as part of an ongoing series about the famed choreographer. The program consisted of two sessions, "Balanchine, Jazz, and Popular Dance" and "Fifty Years of Looking at Balanchine," that included discussions alongside film footage.

Greene also directed Classic Black, a symposium and photographic exhibition highlighting African-American ballet dancers from the 1930s to the 1960s. Research for the project began in 1989 when dance historian Dawn Lille Horwitz conducted oral history interviews, and continued through the 1990s when Greene and Horwitz located photographs. Classic Black premiered in 1996 at the New York Public Library in collaboration with the Dance Research Foundation and toured the country for several years afterwards.

As of 2021, Greene resides in New York City.

Scope and arrangement

The Jonnie Greene papers date from the 1930s to 2000 and primarily document two symposiums directed by Greene in the 1990s: Rethinking the Balanchine Legacy and Classic Black. The collection contains interview transcripts, photographs, grant proposals, correspondence, programs, and audio and video recordings. The latter chiefly depict Dance Critics Association conferences directed by Greene.

Materials for Rethinking the Balanchine Legacy include drafts and proposals for a grant, budget lists and receipts, and release forms for films used at the event with accompanying correspondence. Programs, press releases, and clippings are contained here as well.

The Classic Black materials include transcripts of interviews with African-American dancers mostly conducted by Dawn Lille Horwitz, as well as photographs from the 1930s through the 1960s used in the exhibition with accompanying negatives, lists, and paneling notes by Greene. Talley Beatty, Joe Nash, and Raven Wilkinson are among those interviewed and photographed. There are also materials for several grants Greene applied to, notably from the National Initiative for the Preservation of Dance; these materials comprise drafts and proposals, budget lists, receipts, letters of support, and evaluations. Correspondence about Classic Black largely deals with permissions. Exhibition notes, two agreements, fliers and brochures, press releases, and news articles are also included.

Audio and video recordings mostly document Dance Critics Association conferences directed by Greene from 1982 to 1991. Additionally, there are recordings of Rethinking the Balanchine Legacy and several ballet performances and rehearsals not involving Greene.

Arrangement

The collection is arranged in the following groups: Rethinking the Balanchine Legacy, Classic Black, and Audio and Video Recordings.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Jonnie Greene in 2015.

Processing information

Processed by Nathan Evans in 2021.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Access restrictions

Inquiries regarding audio and moving image materials in the collection may be directed to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division (dance@nypl.org). Audio and moving image materials will be subject to preservation assessment and migration prior to access.