Performing Arts: Collection Strengths

Major Topics

People

The following are some of the most notable dancers, choreographers, dance companies, composers, designers, and impresarios represented in the collection. Follow the links below to execute subject searches in UCI Library Search to identify materials about these artists, or conduct author searches to identify their own writings.

Choreographers

  • Balanchine, George
    "Father of American Ballet".
  • De Mille, Agnes
    "American dancer and choreographer".
  • Diaghilev, Serge
    "Founder of Ballets Russes and ballet impresario".
  • Duncan, Isadora
    "American dancer whose teaching and performances helped to free ballet from its conservative restrictions and developed the modern expressive dance".
  • Dunham, Katherine
    "Creator of the Dunham technique and had one of the most successful careers in African-American and European theater of the 20th century".
  • Fokine, Michel
    "Russian dancer and choreographer Influenced the 20th-century classical ballet repertoire".
  • Graham, Martha
    "Graham technique reshaped American dance that is still taught to this day worldwide".
  • Kreutzberg, Harald
    "Played a major role in the development of Ausdruckstanz, or expressionist modern dance, in Germany".
  • Lifar, Serge
    "Ukrainian dancer who is considered to be one of the greatest male ballet dancers of the 20th century who is also a choreographer, director, writer, theoretician, and collector".
  • Loring, Eugene
    "American choreographer who created "Billy the Kid", an American ballet classic".
  • McKayle, Donald
    "Professor of dance at UC Irvine and one of the first to weave the African-American experience into modern dance".
  • Noverre, Jean Georges
    "French dancer and balletmaster who is considered to be the creator of ballet d'action".
  • Shawn, Ted
  • "One of the first male pioneers of American modern dance".
  • St. Denis, Ruth
  • "American pioneer of modern dance who also introduced eastern ideas into it".
  • Wigman, Mary
    "German dancer and choreographer and pioneer of modern expressionist dance".

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Dancers (See also Choreographers)

  • Astaire, Fred
    "Known as one of the greatest dancer in film history".
  • Baryshnikov, Mikhail
    "Considered the most outstanding male classical dancer of the 1970s and 80s".
  • Duncan, Isadora
    "American dancer whose teaching and performances helped to free ballet from its conservative restrictions and developed the modern expressive dance".
  • Dunham, Katherine
    "Creator of the Dunham technique and had one of the most successful careers in African-American and European theater of the 20th century".
  • Elssler, Fanny
    "Austrian ballerina of the Romantic period who introduced theatricalize folk dance into ballet".
  • Fonteyn, Margot
    "Dancer with the royal ballet who eventually was appointed prima ballerina assoluta by Queen Elizabeth II".
  • Graham, Martha
    "Graham technique reshaped American dance that is still taught to this day worldwide".
  • Karsavina, Tamara
    "Russian Prima ballerina and principal artist of the Imperial Russian Ballet".
  • Nijinsky, Waslaw
    "Ballet dancer who is considered to be the greatest male dancer of the early 20th century".
  • Nureyev, Rudolf
    "Credited by many as the greatest male ballet dancer of his generation".
  • Pavlova, Anna
    "Russian Prima ballerina and creator of the modern pointe shoe".
  • Shawn, Ted
    "One of the first male pioneers of American modern dance".
  • St. Denis, Ruth
    "American pioneer of modern dance who also introduced eastern ideas into it".
  • Taglioni, Marie
    "Swedish-born ballet dancer of the Romantic ballet era and the first to integrate pointe work into performance with the dance to La Sylphide"
  • Ulanova, Galina Sergeevna
    "A Russian ballet dancer who is regarded as being one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century".
  • Wigman, Mary
    "German dancer and choreographer and pioneer of modern expressionist dance".

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Dance Companies

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Ballet Composers

  • Stravinsky, Igor
    "Known for his compositions of The Firebird, Petrushka, Soldier's Tale and Les Noces".
  • Tchaikovsky, Peter
    "Known for his compositions of The Nutcracker, The Sleeping Beauty, and Swan Lake".

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Costume and Set Designers

  • Bakst, Leon
    "Member of Sergei Diaghilev circle and Ballets Russes where he designed lavish costumes and sets".
  • Picasso, Pablo
    "Besides being a painter, Picasso created set and costume design for the ballet Parade".

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Impresarios

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Dance Genres

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Selected Archival and Manuscript Materials

Archival and manuscript collections are described in detail in searchable finding aids in the Online Archive of California. Follow the links below to view the complete finding aids.  Collections for which a link is not given have not yet been organized; contact us for further information.

Ballet

 

Dance Criticism

  • Dougherty (John) papers
    Writings, programs, press releases, photographs, correspondence, and other material documenting the career of the Los Angeles dancer, actor, and writer.
  • Lert (Ruth Clark) dance library and archive
    An extensive collection of photographs, posters, audio and video recordings, and much more documenting historian and critic Lert's interest in dance therapy, movement for the handicapped, dancers Harald Kreutzberg and Mary Wigman, world dance, and dance in San Francisco and Los Angeles. The donation also included her complete dance library.
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Modern Dance

 

Photographs

Many of the collections noted above also include photographs.

  • Dance photograph collection
    Publicity images taken by commercial photographers from 1906 to 1970 that document the repertoire of six major companies, choreographers' original works, and individual dancers in some of their significant roles.
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Programs

Many of the collections noted above also include programs. 

  • Dance program and ephemera collection
    Printed materials, primarily dance programs, documenting significant festivals, performances, and events, the bulk of the collection being on 20th century American and European performers and companies.
  • Mason Opera House playbills
    One hundred seventy-five playbills for dramatic and musical performances held at the Mason Opera House in Los Angeles from 1912 through 1918.
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Social Dance

 

World Dance

  • Collection on La Argentina
    Forty-five photographs of La Argentina (Antonia Mercé), and several other items documenting her career.
  • Collection on Alberto Salicru
    Photographs, publicity announcements, programs, and other material documenting the career of the Flamenco and regional classical dancer and several of his partners.
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