Todd Bolender letters to Joel Schnee 1974-2003

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Todd Bolender letters to Joel Schnee 1974-2003

http://archives.nypl.org/dan/19817

Todd Bolender was born Feb. 27, 1914 in Canton, Ohio and settled in New York City in 1936 where he studied with Hanya Holm. Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine recruited him for their first company, the American Ballet. Kirstein asked him to join Ballet Caravan and he was a novice choreographer with Ballet Society. When New York City Ballet was founded in 1948, there began a long association between Bolender and the company which included memorable performances in Balanchine's The four temperaments, Symphonie concertante, and Agon, Jerome Robbins' Age of anxiety and Concert, and creating his own works Still point, Souvenirs, and Creation of the world. A period of working abroad included being ballet director in Cologne and Frankfurt, Germany and the Ataturk Opera House in Turkey. He became artistic director of the Kansas City Ballet (later renamed the State Ballet of Missouri) in 1981, retiring in 1996. As artistic director emeritus, he continued to supervise his own works for the company. He died, age 92, in Kansas City, Kan. on Oct. 12, 2006. Personal letters written over a 30 year span to colleague Joel Schnee, discussing their mutual careers as choreographers and ballet directors, especially in Germany and Turkey. People discussed include Heinz Spoerli, William Whitener, James Jordan, Betty Cage, Una Kai, Sevgi Hanim, New York City Ballet, Kansas City Ballet, the George Balanchine Foundation, and State Ballet of Missouri. Passing references are made to George Balanchine, Janet Reed, the United States Information Agency, San Francisco Ballet, John Taras, and George W. Bush.

1 box (10 folders)

The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.

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SNAC Resource ID: 6310986

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New York City Ballet

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The New York City Ballet is the brainchild of Lincoln Kirstein, who envisioned an American Ballet of young native dancers, trained and schooled to perform new, modern repertory. The company now performs 23 weeks of the year under the direction of Peter Martins. For further information see http://www.nycballet.com. From the guide to the New York City Ballet records, 1934-1976, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.) The New York City Ballet ...

Whitener, William

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Schnee, Joel

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Kansas City Ballet

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State Ballet of Missouri.

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Bolender, Todd

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American dancer, teacher, choreographer. From the description of Todd Bolender letters to Joel Schnee. (Unknown). WorldCat record id: 84694400 Todd Bolender was born Feb. 27, 1914 in Canton, Ohio and settled in New York City in 1936 where he studied with Hanya Holm. Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine recruited him for their first company, the American Ballet. Kirstein asked him to join Ballet Caravan and he was a novice choreographer with Ballet Society. When New York Ci...

Kai, Una

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George Balanchine Foundation

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Popular Balanchine was designed to document the works choreographed by George Balanchine for the popular stage and the movie screen. From 1927-1931, Balanchine staged dances and musical numbers for reviews, variety shows, and operettas in London and Paris as well as creating choreography for Dark red roses, among the first feature-length talking motion pictures made in England. In the United States, from 1936-1954, he worked with Vernon Duke, John Murray Anderson, Richard Rodgers, Lorenz Hart, G...

Jordan, James

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Spoerli, Heinz, 1941-....

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Hanim, Sevgi

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Cage, Betty

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