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Finding Aid for Adolph Bolm collection, ca. 1922-1983

Guide to the Adolph Bolm Collection, ca. 1922-1983

(S) *MGZMD 50
Jerome Robbins Dance Division. New York Public Library.
40 Lincoln Center Plaza
New York, NY 10023-7498
(212) 870-1657
dance@nypl.org
http://nypl.org/research/lpa/dan/dan.html
Processed by:
Amy Taylor Alpers
Date Completed:
July 1988
Encoded by:
Apex Data Services; revised by Dan Santamaria
Date Completed:
September 26, 2003; revised 2004
Encoding funded by the generous support of the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

© 2004 The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Astor, Lenox and Tilden Foundations. All rights reserved.

Table of Contents

Descriptive Summary Table of Contents

Title
The Adolph Bolm Collection, ca. 1922-1983
Collection ID
(S) *MGZMD 50
Creator
Bolm, Adolf, 1894-1951
Size
3 boxes (138 folders, ca. 1100 items
Repository
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Jerome Robbins Dance DivisionNew York, New York
Abstract

Administrative Information Table of Contents

Source

Purchase.

Access

The collection is open to research.

Restrictions on Use

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Library for the Performing Arts.

Preferred Citation

Adolph Bolm Collection, (S)*MGZMD 50, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Biographical History Table of Contents

Adolph Bolm, born in St. Petersburg, Russia, September 25, 1884, entered the Maryinsky Theatre at age 9. A student of varied interests and talents, he graduated in 1903 with first honors not only in dance but also in music, painting, and literature. From 1904-1909, he partnered the great ballerinas of the Maryinsky, including Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina. Beginning in 1908, he put together a small troupe and toured to Stockholm, Copenhagen, and later Berlin. He also joined Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in its Paris premiere in 1909, creating a stir with his performance of the leading part in Polovtsian Dances. Leaving Russia for good in 1911, he danced for Diaghilev's company until the conclusion of its last American tour in 1917, creating roles such as Dorkon in Daphnis and Chloe, the Moor in Petrouchka, and Prince Ivan in Firebird. He settled in the United States, first working for two seasons as the co-maitre de ballet with Rosina Galli at the Metropolitan Opera. He formed a touring company called Ballet Intime, which in its first season included the Japanese dancer, Michio Ito. The company existed in some form until 1928, its last tour including Agnes de Mille as guest artist. In 1920 he joined the Chicago Opera as choreographer. There he created what many consider the first purely American ballet, Birthday of the Infanta, featuring Ruth Page. In 1923, he opened a school in Chicago, sharing the teaching with two colleagues from the St. Petersburg School. He remained in Chicago until 1930 when he moved to San Francisco to work with the opera there. In his insistence that the San Francisco Opera Association create a school under its auspices and by giving the first all-ballet evenings, Bolm essentially created the San Francisco Ballet. For that troupe he created his Bach Cycle and staged El Amor Brujo, and his last choreography Mephisto. In 1935, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a teacher and choreographer in film and concerts. Between 1940 and 1942, he appeared with Ballet Theatre, recreating his roles form Diaghilev's company, including Pierrot in Carnaval and the Blackamoor in Petrouchka. He died in his Hollywood home at age 66, April 16, 1951.

Scope and Content Note Table of Contents

The Adolph Bolm Collection documents the career of Adolph Bolm through papers and research information collected by author, John Dougherty, in preparation for writing several biographical articles and a book on the dancer.

The collection is divided into three series.

Organization Table of Contents

  • Correspondence and Research Notes
  • General Research Notes ad Writings
    • General Research Notes
    • Writings
  • Personal Documents of Adolph Bolm
    • Correspondence
    • Diaries and/or Typed Transcriptions
    • Writings by Adolph Bolm
    • Miscellaneous

Series Description/Container List Table of Contents

   
I. Correspondence and Research Notes Table of Contents
(89 folders, 369 items, 584 leaves)

Series I comprises correspondence with, and/or notes compiled on, eighty individuals including Bolm's dance partners, students, relatives, and acquaintances. Many of these folders contain signed letters to John Dougherty from such people as Bolm's wife, Beatrice, Willam Christensen, Natalia Clare, Anton Dolin, Nana Gollner, Tamara Karsavina, Ted Shawn, and Carl Van Vechten, to name the most prominent.

b. 1   f. 1    
Armitage, Merle (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 2    
Baldina, Alexandra (1961)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 3    
Barton, Craig (1962-1963)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 4    
Bates, Talma (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 5    
Beaumont, Cyril W. (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 6    
Blackburn, Evelyn (1963)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 7-13    
Bolm, Beatrice (1960-1966)
(ca. 100 Items)
b. 1   f. 14    
Borine, Norman (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 15    
Bowling, Frances (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 16    
Buffano, Beniamino (1963)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 17    
Camryn, Walter (1963)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 18    
Carlson, Jehanne Salinger (1963)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 19    
Caspary, Vera (1961)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 20    
Christensen, Willam Farr (1962)
(4 Items)
b. 1   f. 21    
Clare, Natalia (n.d.)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 22    
Cunningham, Imogen (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 23    
Dolin, Anton (1964)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 24    
Edwards, Evangeline (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 25    
Equizabal, Juan (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 26    
Faiss, Fritz (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 27    
Felsch, Celina Cummings (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 28    
Fernández, José (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 29    
Ford Foundation (1964)
(3 Items)

(Marcia Thompson)

b. 1   f. 30    
Frey Rozelle (1961)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 31    
Garcia, Antonio (1963)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 32    
Goldner, Nancy (1983)
(5 Items)
b. 1   f. 33    
Gollner, Nana (1961)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 34    
Grace, Princess of Monaco (1963-1964)
(7 Items)
b. 1   f. 35    
Graham, Martha (1962)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 36    
Hanff, Helene (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 37    
Hoffmann, Gertrude (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 38    
Horst Louis (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 39    
Isham, Irene (Clark) (1963-1964)
(11 item)
b. 1   f. 40    
Joel, Lydia (1961-1963)
(4 Items)
b. 1   f. 41    
Kalimos, Leon (1960)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 42    
Kamin, Martin and Sally (1963-1964)
(8 Items)
b. 1   f. 43    
Karsavina, Tamara (1961-1963)
(6 Items)
b. 1   f. 44    
Kromdyk, Peggy (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 45    
Ladre, Marian (1963)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 46    
Le Mone, Evelyn (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 47    
Leslie, Caird (n.d.)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 48    
Leslie, Serge (1961-1963)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 49    
Lewis, Curt Connor (1961-1962)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 50    
Loring, Eugene (1961)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 51    
Lytton, Bart (1964)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 52    
McGinley, Michael (1983)
(4 Items)
b. 1   f. 53    
Martin, John (1961, 1965)
(5 Items)
b. 1   f. 54    
Maxwell, Albertine (1962-1964)
(7 Items)
b. 1   f. 55    
Mayfield, John (1963)
(16 Items)

(Syracuse University)

b. 1   f. 56    
Murray, Elfrida (1963)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 57    
Nadelle, Bob (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 58    
Nelson, Peter (1963)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 59    
Niles, Doris (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 60    
Ohtaguro, M. (n.d.)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 61    
Oswald, Genevieve (1964)
(2 Items)

(see also Folder No. 50)

b. 1   f. 62    
Oumansky, Alexander and Peggy (1963-1964)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 63    
Page, Ruth (1963)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 64    
Patterson, Frederick (1963-1964)
(5 Items)

(The Cornish School)

b. 1   f. 65    
Pianowski, Mieczyslaw (1963-1964)
(4 Items)
b. 1   f. 66    
Pinska, Klarna (n.d.)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 67    
Powell, Stanley and Esther (1964)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 68    
Primus, Margery (1964)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 69    
Remisoff, Nicolai (1963, n.d.)
(5 Items)
b. 1   f. 70    
Renov, Ramon (1962)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 71    
Rothschild, Howard (1966)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 72    
Schaeffer, Rosalind (1980?)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 73    
Scudder, Marie (1964)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 74    
Shawn, Ted (1962-1963)
(4 Items)
b. 1   f. 75    
Smith, Loran F. (1962)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 76    
Sokolova, Lydia (1964)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 77    
Southworth, Robert (1962)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 78    
Still, William Grant and Verna Arvey (1964)
(6 Items)
b. 1   f. 79    
Stury, Alfred (1964, 1983)
(4 Items)
b. 1   f. 80    
Van Vechten, Carl (1963)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 81-83    
Wells, Evelyn (1963-1964)
(41 item)
b. 1   f. 84    
Wells, Mary Ann (1963)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 85    
Wenger, Evelyn (1963)
(3 Items)
b. 1   f. 86    
Windus, Gwen (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 87    
Zali, Lila (1961)
(2 Items)
b. 1   f. 88    
Zemach, Benjamin (1964)
(1 item)
b. 1   f. 89    
Unidentified (1963-1966)
(8 Items)
   
II. General Research Notes and Writings Table of Contents
(37 folders, 989 leaves)

Series II contains John Dougherty's more general research notes and writings on Bolm. These include typed transcriptions of articles on Bolm by other authors, as well as several drafts of articles by Dougherty.

b. 2   f. 90-118    
General Research Notes
(721 (leaves) Items)
   
Writings
b. 2   f. 119-120    
“The Many Firsts of Adolph Bolm”
(2 Items)

(2 versions, 46 leaves)

b. 2   f. 121-124    
“Adolph Bolm: an Evaluation of His Career”
(4 Items)

(4 versions, 193 leaves)

b. 2   f. 125-126    
Miscellaneous (29 leaves)
(10 Items)
   
III. Personal Documents of Adolph Bolm Table of Contents
(12 folders, 96 leaves, 2 diaries)

Series III comprises personal documents of Adolph Bolm. Included are nine items of correspondence between Bolm and/or Fernando Wagner and Carlos Chávez concerning a proposed tour of Mexico in 1950; four diaries and/or typed transcriptions of diaries, spanning the years 1942-1950; three articles written by Bolm; miscellaneous production notes, mainly for Firebird and Birthday of the Infanta; and a magazine, Art and Archaeology, inscribed by Bolm to Mr. Walter Graham.

   
A. Correspondence (concerning proposed tour to Mexico) Table of Contents
b. 3   f. 127    
Adolph Bolm to Fernando Wagner (1950)
(1 item)
b. 3   f. 128    
Fernando Wagner to Adolph Bolm (1950)
(6 Items)
b. 3   f. 129    
Carlos Chávez to Adolph Bolm (1950)
(3 Items)
   
B. Diaries and/or Typed Transcriptions Table of Contents
b. 3   f. 130    
1942 July-Oct. (with transcription)
(2 Items)
b. 3   f. 131    
1944 Jan. - Dec.
(1 item)

(only transcription)

b. 3   f. 132    
1947 Jan. - Dec.
(1 item)

(only transcription)

b. 3   f. 133    
1950 Jan. - Dec.
(7 Items)

(with transcription)

(also includes son's wedding invitation)

   
C. Writings by Adolph Bolm Table of Contents
b. 3   f. 134    
“Enrico Cecchetti” (n.d.)
(1 item)

(hand-signed, 3 leaves)

b. 3   f. 135    
“Is There a Specifically Russian Classical Ballet System?”
(1 item)

(ca. 1949, 3 leaves)

b. 3   f. 136    
“4000 Years of Television” (1942) by Richard W. Hubbell Preface by A. Bolm
(1 item)

(5 leaves)

   
D. Miscellaneous Table of Contents
b. 3   f. 137    
Production notes (14 leaves)
(9 Items)
b. 3   f. 138    
Magazine, Art and Archaeology, 1922 inscribed by Bolm to Mr. Walter Graham
(1 item)

Separated Material Table of Contents

  • Photographs (ca. 75) to *MGZEB
  • Clippings (1 box) to *MGZR

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