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The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 
Current | Upcoming | Past | Online Be sure to check library hours and holidays for important information. Exhibition Hours: Tues, Wed & Fri: 11 to 6; Mon, Thurs: 12 to 8; Sat: 10 to 6 Diaghilev's Theater of Marvels: The Ballets Russes and Its Aftermath Diaghilev's Theater of Marvels: The Ballets Russes and Its Aftermath, curated by dance historian Lynn Garafola, celebrates the legendary company that transformed 20th-century ballet and made it modern. Founded in 1909 by the Russian impresario extraordinaire Serge Diaghilev, the Ballets Russes taught audiences to hear, see, and respond to the art of the moving body in unprecedented ways. For the 20 years of its existence, a new repertory came into being—now-classic works like Michel Fokine's Les Sylphides and Petrouchka, Vaslav Nijinsky's L'Après-midi d'un Faune, and George Balanchine's Apollon Musagète and Prodigal Son—choreographed by artists whose talents Diaghilev was quick to discern and passionate to guide. He carried his quest for new expressive forms to music and design, commissioning scores from Igor Stravinsky, Sergei Prokofiev, Manuel de Falla, Erik Satie, Francis Poulenc, and Darius Milhaud, thus creating a new body of work both for ballet and for the concert hall. The list of his painters, headed by Pablo Picasso, Natalia Goncharova, and Henri Matisse, reads like a who's who of international modernism, underscoring the fact that Diaghilev's stage also served as a gallery of modern art. Katharine Hepburn: In Her Own Files  Katharine Hepburn’s elevation to the status of “icon” was due undoubtedly to her singular success on the screen. But her acting career began on the stage and it was there that she honed the skills that would later serve her so well in Hollywood. Yet even after her stature as a screen actress was solidified, she returned repeatedly to the stage, where each time she found new challenges, new audiences, new risks, and, more than once, failure. read more... Exhibition Brochure (PDF - 6 MB) Image: Katharine Hepburn in the title role of Jane Eyre, Theatre Guild tour, 1937. Photograph by Vandamm Studio. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Billy Rose Theatre Division, Katharine Hepburn Papers Spring Arrivals: Historic Debuts at SAB Workshop Performances  The School of American Ballet – official academy of New York City Ballet – has given spring Workshop Performances at Lincoln Center since 1965, dancing the works of George Balanchine, Peter Martins, Marius Petipa, and Jerome Robbins among others. Many of the students appearing in these annual performances have gone on to illustrious careers with major ballet companies. Dancers include Fernando Bujones, Darci Kistler, Maria Kowroski, and Ethan Stiefel and this exhibition – part of the School’s 75th Anniversary celebrations – chronicles their New York debuts with SAB. Renowned dance photographers Martha Swope and Paul Kolnik are among those represented in the exhibition. Image: Melinda Roy in her 1978 Workshop Performance. Photograph by Carolyn George. |