Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery
The
Interview with George
Balanchine.
Conducted by John Gruen,
November 20, 1972 at the New School for Social Research, New York City. Gift of
John Gruen
Photograph of Balanchine
by Tanaquil LeClercq.
Interview with Sheryl
Ware Ballard.
Conducted by Meg
Stillman, February 2, 1999 in New York City. Dance Division Oral History
Project.
Photograph of Ware in Coppelia
(Act III) by Martha Swope. Willis Gift.
Interview with Erik
Bruhn.
Conducted by John Gruen,
April 19, 1973 in New York City. Gift of John Gruen.
Photograph in costume for
Balanchine’s Swan Lake by Martha Swope.
Photograph of Bruhn and
Nora Kaye in performance of Apollo by Fred Fehl.
Gift of Herbert Ross
Interview with Marlene
Mesavage DeSavino and Joysanne Sidimus.
Conducted by Sallie
Blumenthal, November 21, 1998 in New York City. Dance Division Oral History
Project.
Photograph of Joysanne
Sidimus in The Firebird, 1961, photographer uncredited
Photograph of Marlene
Mesavage DeSavino in La Valse, 1963, by Martha Swope.
Interview with Melissa
Hayden.
Conducted by John Gruen,
December 18, 1972 in New York City. Gift of John Gruen. Photograph of Hayden and Balanchine in
rehearsal for A Midsummer Night’s
Dream by Fred Fehl.
Photograph of Hayden in Pas
de Trois with Maria Tallchief and Andre Eglevsky, photographer
uncredited.
Interview with Patricia
McBride.
Conducted by John Gruen,
December 16, 1973. Gift of John
Gruen.
Photograph of McBride and
Edward Villella in Rubies, by Martha Swope.
Photograph of McBride in
rehearsal with Villella and Balanchine by Martha Swope
Interview with Peter
Martins.
Conducted by Ellen
Sorrin, October 29, 1998 at the New York State Theater. Dance Division Oral
History Project. Photograph of Martins in rehearsal with Balanchine and Kay
Mazzo by Martha Swope.
Portrait, photographer
uncredited.
Working with Balanchine:
A Conversation with Jerome Robbins.
Conducted by Ellen Sorrin
for the New York City Ballet Guild, March 3, 1993. Jerome Robbins Collection.
Photograph of Balanchine
and Robbins in rehearsal for Pulcinella, 1972, by Martha Swope.
Interview with Muriel
Stuart.
Conducted by John Gruen,
November 5, 1972 in New York City. Gift of John Gruen. Rehearsal photograph with members of the
American Ballet, Gisella Caccialanza, Elise Reiman, Daphne Vane, and Holly
Howard, in Hollywood, 1938. Photographer uncredited. Gift of Dwight Godwin.
Interview with Carol
Sumner. Conducted by Louise Sunshine,
November 21, 1998 in New York City.
Dance Division Oral History Project.
Photograph of Sumner (far
right) in rehearsal with Bettijane Sills, Balanchine and Richard Rapp by Martha
Swope.
Photograph in Don
Quixote by Martha Swope
Interview with Maria
Tallchief. Conducted by John Gruen, May
21, 1985 in New York City. Dance
Division Oral History Project.
Photographer uncredited.
Interview with Edward
Villella. Conducted by John Gruen,
January 2, 1973 in New York City. Gift
of John Gruen
Photograph of Villella in
The Prodigal Son, photographer uncredited.
Photograph by John
Loengard, Time/Life Syndication.
The image on the
introductory touch screen is a photograph by Martha Swope of dancers in a
School of American Ballet Workshop. The
image on the menu screen is a photograph of George Balanchine by Henri
Cartier-Bresson.
George Balanchine teaches
class.
Photograph by Henri
Cartier-Bresson
Exhibition enlargement 7
ft. x 4 ft. 6 in.
Unidentified photographer
Pierre
Vladimiroff teaches a partnering class.
Arthur Mitchell is immediately behind him.
Photographer
unidentified
Gelatin-silver print, 7 ½
in. x 9 in.
Muriel Stuart teaches
class, 1959
Gelatin-silver print, 9 ¾
in. x 7 ¼ in.
Courtesy of New York City
Ballet Archives, Ballet Society Collection
Anatole Oboukoff teaches
a partnering class.
Gloria Govrin and Jacques
d’Amboise are the couple immediately behind him.
Photograph by Martha
Swope
Gelatin-silver print, 8
in. x 8 ¼ in.
Kyra
Blanc teaches children’s class, 1940s
Photographer unidentified
Gelatin-silver print, 7 ¾
in. x 9 in.
Elise Reiman
Photograph by George
Platt Lynes
Photostat, 9 ½ in.
x 7 in.
Antonia Tumkovsky
Photograph by Paul
Kolnick
Gelatin-silver print,
7 in. x 8 in.
Courtesy of School of
American Ballet
Felia Doubrovska
Photograph
by Martha Swope
Gelatin-silver print, 7 ½
in. x 9 ½ in.
Alexandra Danilova
Photograph by Carolyn
George
Gelatin-silver print, 9 ½
in. x 7 in.
Courtesy of New York City
Ballet Archives, School of American Ballet Collection
Stanley Williams
Digital copy, 7-3/8 in. x
7-3/8 in.
Courtesy
of School of American Ballet
Helène Dudin.
Jennie Somogyi is at her
right.
Photograph by Michael
Halsband
Gelatin-silver print, 7 ¾
in. x 7 ¾ in.
Suki Schorer
Darci Kistler is third
from left.
Photograph by Carolyn
George
Gelatin-silver print, 6
in. x 9 in.
Courtesy of School of
American Ballet
Kay Mazzo
Photograph by Carolyn
George
Gelatin-silver print, 7 ½
in. x 9 ½ in.
Peter Martins teaches
advanced men’s class
Photographer unidentified
Gelatin-silver print, 7 ¼
in. x 9 ¼ in.
Susan Pilarre
Photograph by Michael
Halsband
Gelatin-silver print, 7 ½
x in 7 ½ in.
Courtesy of School of
American Ballet
Garielle Whittle
Photograph by Brook
Slezak
Gelatin-silver print,
9-5/8 in. x 7-1/8 in.
Courtesy of School of
American Ballet
Video projection in the
screening room:
Balanchine Essays
Passé and Attitude
Produced by the George
Balanchine Foundation, Inc.
In association with
Tatge/Lasseur Productions, Inc.
Artistic Directors,
conceived and written by Merrill Ashley and Suki Schorer
Executive
producer Barbara Horgan
Producer
Catherine Tatge
Director
Merrill Brockway
Musical
director and pianist Gordon Boelzner
Instructors
Suki Schorer and Merrill Ashley
Demonstrators
Jeffrey Edwards, Maydelle Fason and Rebecca Metzger
The
George Balanchine Foundation, Inc. c 1944
Courtesy
of the George Balanchine Foundation, Inc.
Three posters for School
of American Ballet National Audition Tours 1987, 1988 and 1989
Photographs by Michael
Halsband
Offset lithography, 22 ½
in. x 30 in., 30 in. x 24 in. and 23 ¾ in. x 30 in.
New York City Ballet
Window card for Gala
Spring Festival, June 5-24, [1952?] at City Center
Maria Tallchief and
Nicholas Magallanes in Swan Lake
Photographer and designer
unidentified
Letterpress, 21 ¾ in. x
13 ¾ in.
New York City Ballet
Window card for tenth
anniversary, 1958.
Design by Cato
Silkscreen, 22 in. x 14 ¼
in.
New York City Ballet
Design
by Donn Matus
Offset lithography, 27
in. x 12 ½ in.
New York City Ballet
Photograph by Martha
Swope, design by Karl Leabo
Offset lithography, 22
in. x 13 ¾ in.
New York City Ballet
Window card, [1977?]
Drawing and design by
Edward Gorey
Offset lithography, 26
in. x 12 in.
New York City Ballet,
Poster for season in
Tokyo, spring 1958
Let’s do now the grand
plie.
First position.
The grand plie at once
must be used with strength,
not just to
descend. It is not like an elevator.
An elevator is
suspended. The feeling of going down
shouldn’t be as if
somebody is holding you and
you are falling, or
somebody is pulling you up.
But you yourself must
push yourself with strength.
This is the feeling
you should make yourself, while doing it,
Not just going up and
down. This is life.
It is like breathing.
The vitrine contains a
selection of School of American Ballet catalogs, promotional brochures, annual
report, calendar, invitation and benefit performance programs:
Catalog open to outline
of the SAB dance curriculum
Catalog open with
definitions of arabesque and adagio
Students of the School of
American Ballet, 1993
Photograph by Robert
Klein
Gelatin-silver print, 10
in x 13 in.
Pointe shoes, unsigned,
worn by Darci Kistler
SCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET, IN THE CLASSROOM
Darci Kistler in class at
the School of American Ballet, ca. 1980.
Photograph by Steven
Caras
Exhibition enlargement 4
ft. 5 in. x 3 ft. 4 in.
Partnering class
Students stretching
before class
Gymnastics class
Boys’ ballet class, in
preparation for pirouettes
Photographs by Carolyn
George
Gelatin-silver prints, 7
in x 9 in.
Courtesy of New York City
Ballet Archives, School of American Ballet Collection
SCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET, COACHING IN THE STUDIO
Studio rehearsal for
George Balanchine’s Serenade, 2003.
Photograph by Ellen Crane
Exhibition enlargement 4
ft. 5 in. x 3 ft. 4 in.
Suki Schorer rehearsing
advanced students for George Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments, staged
by her for the School of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1983.
Photograph by Carolyn
George
Courtesy of New York City
Ballet Archives, School of American Ballet Collection
Christopher Boehmer, Dara
Adler and Alexandra Suplina in rehearsal for George Balanchine’s The Four
Temperaments, staged by Rosemary Dunleavy and Susan Pilarre for the School
of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1987
Photograph by Steven
Caras
Courtesy of New York City
Ballet Archives, School of American Ballet Collection
Rehearsals for Country
Dances of England and America, staged by Ronald Smedley and Robert Parker
for the School of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1975. Joseph Duell is in front.
Photograph by Martha
Swope
Peter Martins rehearsing
Katrina Killian and Jock Soto in his The Magic Flute, music by Ricardo
Drigo, for the School of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1981.
Photograph
by Steven Caras
Courtesy of School of
American Ballet
Peter Martins partners
Shawn Stevens during rehearsals for his The Magic Flute, 1981.
Photograph
by Steven Caras
Gelatin-silver print, 8
in. x 10 in.
Courtesy of School of
American Ballet
SCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET WORKSHOPS, COACHING ONSTAGE
George Balanchine
rehearses Marius Petipa’s Paquita, music by Ludwig Minkus, staged by
Alexandra Danilova for the School of American Ballet performances, 1974.
Photograph
by Martha Swope
Exhibition enlargement 3
ft. 4 in. x 5 ft.
Alexandra Danilova
rehearses Darci Kistler and Cornel Crabtree in Swan Lake (Act II),
staged by Mme. Danilova for the School of American Ballet performances, 1980.
George Balanchine
rehearses the Polovetsian Dance from Prince Igor, staged by Alexandra
Danilova for the School of American Ballet performances, 1976.
Miriam Mahdaviani and
Roma Sosenko are in black leotards at left..
Photograph by Martha
Swope
Courtesy of New York City
Ballet Archives, School of American Ballet Collection
George Balanchine
speaking with School of American Ballet students onstage
Photograph by Carolyn
George
Courtesy of New York City
Ballet Archives, School of American Ballet Collection
Merrill Ashley, Gelsey
Kirkland and Colleen Neary in the Jewels variation of The Sleeping Beauty,
staged by Alexandra Danilova for a 1967 workshop performance of the School of
American Ballet.
Photograph
by Martha Swope
Exhibition enlargement 3
ft. 4 in. x 4 ft. 2 in.
George Balanchine’s Serenade,
music by Tchaikovsky, staged by Suki Schorer for the School of American Ballet
Workshop performances, 1989.
Photograph by Paul Kolnik
Gelatin-silver print, 6 ¼
in. x 9 ½ in.
Barbara Britton and Suzan
Nichols in George Balanchine’s Serenade, music by Tchaikovsky, staged by
Suki Schorer for the School of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1984.
Photograph by Paul Kolnik
Gelatin-silver print, 7 ½
in. x 9 ½ in.
Courtesy
of School of American Ballet
George Balanchine’s Serenade,
music by Tchaikovsky, staged by Suki Schorer, for the School of American Ballet
Workshop performances, 1994.
Photograph by Paul Kolnik
Gelatin-silver print, 6 ½
in. x 9 ¼ in.
George Balanchine’s Concerto
Barocco, music by Johann Sebastian Bach, staged by Suki Schorer for the
School of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1975. Leslie Brown and Joseph Duell are the central
couple.
Photograph by Martha
Swope
Gelatin-silver print, 7
in. x 10 in.
Courtesy
of School of American Ballet
George Balanchine’s Brahms-Schoenberg
Quartet (3rd and 4th Movements), music by Johannes
Brahms and Arnold Schoenberg, costumes by Barbara Karinska, staged by Suki
Schorer for the School of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1982. Zippora Karz and James Sewell are the central
couple.
Photograph by Paul Kolnik
Gelatin-silver print, 6 ½
in. x 9 ½ in.
Courtesy of New York City
Ballet Archives, School of American Ballet Collection
Helgi Tomasson’s Introduction,
Theme with Variations, Polonaise, Opus 65, music by Mauro Giulianai, for
the School of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1982. Patricia Tomlinson leaps in from of James
Sewell, Michael Byars, Gregory Russell and Larry Hall.
Photograph by Martha
Swope
Gelatin-silver print, 8
in. x 10 in.
Jerome Robbins’s 2
& 3 Part Inventions, music by Johann Sebastian Bach, for the School of
American Ballet Workshop performances, 1994, with Kristina Fernandez and
Benjamin Millepied.
Photograph by Paul Kolnik
Gelatin-silver print,
6-7/8 in. x 9 in.
George Balanchine’s Concerto
Barocco, music by Johann Sebastian Bach, staged by Rosemary Dunlevy and
Susan Pilarre for the School of American Ballet Workshop performances,
1987. Wendy Whelan and Brian Reeder are
the central couple.
Photograph by Steven
Caras
Gelatin-silver print,
5-1/8 in. x 9 ½ in.
Courtesy
of School of American Ballet
Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux’s Quadrille,
music Johann Strauss, Jr. Die Fledermaus excerpts, for the School of American
Ballet Workshop performances, 1978.
Julie Michael and Peter Boal ar the couple on the left.
Photograph by Martha
Swope
Gelatin-silver print, 8
in. x 10 in.
Courtesy of School of
American Ballet
Andrea Long in George
Balanchine’s Divertimento No. 15, music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart,
staged by Suki Schorer for the School of American Ballet Workshop performances,
1987.
Photograph by Paul Kolnik
Gelatin-silver print, 8
in. x 10 in.
Courtesy
of School of American Ballet
Christopher d’Amboise and
unidentified dancer in the School of American Ballet Workshop performances,
1977.
Photograph by Carolyn
George
Gelatin-silver print, 9 ½
in. x 6 ¾ in.
Courtesy
of School of American Ballet
Students of the School of
American Ballet in Jacques d’Amboise’s My Father, music by Judy Collins,
for the Workshop performances, 1981.
Photograph by Carolyn
George
Students of the School of
American Ballet in Joseph Duell’s Jubilee, music by Louis Moreau
Gottschalk, arraned by Hershy Kay, for the Workshop performances, 1980. Jock Soto is far right.
Two photographs of
Christopher Wheeldon’s Scènes de Ballet, School of American Ballet
Workshop performances, 1999. Faye
Arthurs and Craig Hall are the pas de deux couple; Isabel Vondermuhll and Jan
Burkhard are the two children
Photographs
by Paul Kolnik
Jeffrey Edwards leads the
trio in the tarantella of Auguste Bournonville’s Napoli, staged by
Stanley Williams for the School of American Ballet Workshop performances, 1984.
Exhibition enlargement 3
ft. 4 in. x 4 ft. 8 in.
Maintenance
is a constant struggle against that inevitable
worldly gravity which
tends to lower standards for the sake
of more common
denominators, often seductively justified
on the basis of
survival, when the going gets rough.
Two vitrines document New
York City Ballet’s ongoing activities, including the 1991 production by Peter
Martins of The Sleeping Beauty, the Diamond Project, the American Music
Festival, the New York Choreographic Institute, and productions of George
Balanchine’s ballets by companies worldwide under the supervision of The George
Balanchine Trust.
New York City Ballet
Eight performance
programs for the 1988 American Music Festival, with cover artwork commissioned
from distinguished American artists.
American Music Festival
opening night gala souvenir program, April 26, 1988
New York City Ballet
Souvenir programs open to
scenic designs and rehearsal and performance photographs of The Sleeping
Beauty, choreography by Peter Martins after Marius Petipa, “The Garland
Dance” by George Balanchine, music by Peter Tchaikovsky, scenic design by David
Mitchell, costumes by Patricia Zipprodt, premiere April 14, 1991.
New York City Ballet
The Diamond Project
Darci Kistler and Jock
Soto in Peter Martins’ Delight of the Muses, music by Charles Wuorinen,
costumes by Barbara Matera and Steven Rubin, New York City Ballet, 1992.
Photograph by Paul Kolnik
Gelatin-silver print, 9 ½
in. x 7 ¾ in.
Rand McNally World Map
George Balanchine
Centennial Press Release
Printout from the website
of The George Balanchine Foundation
Selection of performance
programs of companies worldwide with George Balanchine ballets in their
repertories, including The Australian Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Finnish National
Ballet, Kirov Ballet, Het Nationale Ballet, Paris Opera Ballet, Royal Ballet,
and the Stuttgart Ballet.