Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Itō, Michio, 1893-1961
2. Kalonyme, Louis
3. Lewin, Albert, 1894-1968
4. O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986
5. O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953
6. Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890-1980
7. Renoir, Dido
8. Renoir, Jean, 1894-1979
9. Rostand, Edmond, 1868-1918

Description

1. 96 linear feet (159 boxes)

Summary

1. The Angna Enters papers consist primarily of artwork, clippings, correspondence, music, photographs, and writings. The collection is important in its documentation of the development of dance-mime, the new dance form conceived by Enters, through numerous photographs, notebooks, music scores, scrapbooks, sheet music, and sketchbooks. The Angna Enters papers also include many examples of the original artwork that Enters incorporated into her performances as costume and set designs and as illustrations for her writings. Enters' own writing career is especially well documented by the collection, which contains many versions of her published works, including manuscripts and galley proofs. Also present in the collection are some of the writings of Enters' husband, Louis Kalonyme, including his articles on the work of such friends as Eugene O'Neill and Georgia O'Keeffe. Enters toured extensively and the collection contains considerable travel-related ephemera, as well as postcards collected by Enters. Much of the correspondence is of a professional nature and reveals Enters' connections with the literary and film communities, represented by such notable correspondents as Katherine Anne Porter and Jean and Dido Renoir. Most of the material relating to Enters' personal life in this collection may be found in her journals and notebooks.

Subject

1. Mimes
2. Galley proofs
3. Notebooks
4. Itō, Michio, 1893-1961
5. Renoir, Jean, 1894-1979
6. Photographs
7. Mimes > United States > 20th century
8. Authors
9. Screenwriters
10. Women dancers > United States > 20th century
11. Women choreographers > United States > 20th century
12. Women screenwriters > United States > 20th century
13. Women painters > United States > 20th century
14. O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986
15. Scrapbooks
16. Lewin, Albert, 1894-1968
17. Women authors > United States > 20th century
18. Postcards
19. Renoir, Dido
20. Painters
21. Kalonyme, Louis
22. Dancers
23. Clippings
24. O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953
25. Diaries
26. Sheet music
27. Scores
28. Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890-1980
29. Set design drawings
30. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989
31. Manuscripts for publication
32. Sketchbooks
33. Costume design drawings
34. Choreographers

Genre/Form

1. Clippings.
2. Costume design drawings.
3. Diaries.
4. Galley proofs.
5. Manuscripts for publication.
6. Notebooks.
7. Photographs.
8. Postcards.
9. Scores.
10. Scrapbooks.
11. Set design drawings.
12. Sheet music.
13. Sketchbooks.

Call number

1. (S) *MGZMD 158

Location of other archival materials (note)

1. See also: Angna Enters correspondence (*MGZMD 101), Angna Enters letters to Edward L. Berman (*MGZMC-Res 19) and other items cataloged separately in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Biography (note)

1. American-born dancer, mime, painter, and writer, Angna Enters (1897-1989) was a unique performer in the world of modern and theatrical dance. Formally trained in design, Enters moved to New York to continue her art studies and met the dancer Michio Itō, with whom she began studying in 1920. Dropping her real name, Anita Enters, she adopted her stage name and soon began appearing in concerts as his partner. Her work with Itō led to an appearance in a Broadway revue, the Pinwheel Revel (1922), which featured her first choreography, Ecclésiastique. Initially conceived as a group dance, Enters later transformed the earlier piece into Moyen Age (1926), which became one of her signature works. Enters produced her first solo performance in 1924 and began touring extensively throughout the United States and Europe with her program, which became more formally known as The Theater of Angna Enters during the mid-1930s. Difficult to describe, Enters' vast repertory grew to include over 250 different solo character vignettes. For each composition, Enters would design a costume to represent a specific character, choose a piece of music (often arranging or composing the music herself), and create or select her own props. Although she continued to perform into the late 1960s, Enters' stage career declined in the postwar years and she curtailed her touring schedule considerably after 1939. She took up residence in California and began to pursue scriptwriting as a profession, working for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio until the early 1950s. A prolific author who worked in many genres, Enters published several books including, First Person Plural (1937), Love Possessed Juana (1939), Silly Girl (1944), Among the Daughters (1955), An Artist's Life (1958), and On Mime (1960), all of which she also illustrated. An avid painter and sculptor, Enters exhibited her paintings throughout her life, even during her long years of active touring. Recognized as a master teacher, Enters began teaching mime for actors during the 1950s at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and lectured at several universities in her later years.
2. Certain aspects of Enter's personal life remain unclear. In 1921 she met journalist Louis Kantor, who wrote frequently on modern art and drama under the name, Louis Kalonyme. He helped to edit Enters' writing and appears to have collaborated with her on certain projects, including an English translation of Edmond Rostand's play, Chantecler (1960). Enters and Kaloynme began a clandestine relationship in 1924 and were married in Spain in 1936, although the marriage remained a secret through an elaborate subterfuge until Enters acknowledged it many years after Kalonyme's death in 1961. From 1965 to 1968 she lived as a hostess and a travel companion with her life-long friend, retired film executive Albert Lewin, following the death of his wife.

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Author

1. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989.

Title

1. Angna Enters papers, 1920-1989 (bulk ca. 1930-1973)

Biography

1. American-born dancer, mime, painter, and writer, Angna Enters (1897-1989) was a unique performer in the world of modern and theatrical dance. Formally trained in design, Enters moved to New York to continue her art studies and met the dancer Michio Itō, with whom she began studying in 1920. Dropping her real name, Anita Enters, she adopted her stage name and soon began appearing in concerts as his partner. Her work with Itō led to an appearance in a Broadway revue, the Pinwheel Revel (1922), which featured her first choreography, Ecclésiastique. Initially conceived as a group dance, Enters later transformed the earlier piece into Moyen Age (1926), which became one of her signature works. Enters produced her first solo performance in 1924 and began touring extensively throughout the United States and Europe with her program, which became more formally known as The Theater of Angna Enters during the mid-1930s. Difficult to describe, Enters' vast repertory grew to include over 250 different solo character vignettes. For each composition, Enters would design a costume to represent a specific character, choose a piece of music (often arranging or composing the music herself), and create or select her own props. Although she continued to perform into the late 1960s, Enters' stage career declined in the postwar years and she curtailed her touring schedule considerably after 1939. She took up residence in California and began to pursue scriptwriting as a profession, working for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio until the early 1950s. A prolific author who worked in many genres, Enters published several books including, First Person Plural (1937), Love Possessed Juana (1939), Silly Girl (1944), Among the Daughters (1955), An Artist's Life (1958), and On Mime (1960), all of which she also illustrated. An avid painter and sculptor, Enters exhibited her paintings throughout her life, even during her long years of active touring. Recognized as a master teacher, Enters began teaching mime for actors during the 1950s at the Stella Adler Conservatory of Acting and lectured at several universities in her later years.
2. Certain aspects of Enter's personal life remain unclear. In 1921 she met journalist Louis Kantor, who wrote frequently on modern art and drama under the name, Louis Kalonyme. He helped to edit Enters' writing and appears to have collaborated with her on certain projects, including an English translation of Edmond Rostand's play, Chantecler (1960). Enters and Kaloynme began a clandestine relationship in 1924 and were married in Spain in 1936, although the marriage remained a secret through an elaborate subterfuge until Enters acknowledged it many years after Kalonyme's death in 1961. From 1965 to 1968 she lived as a hostess and a travel companion with her life-long friend, retired film executive Albert Lewin, following the death of his wife.

Location of other archival materials

1. See also: Angna Enters correspondence (*MGZMD 101), Angna Enters letters to Edward L. Berman (*MGZMC-Res 19) and other items cataloged separately in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Indexes

1. Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Special Collections (Dance Division) material
2. NYPL Digital Collections
3. Finding Aid

Occupation

1. Authors.
2. Choreographers.
3. Dancers.
4. Mimes.
5. Painters.
6. Screenwriters.

Added author

1. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989. Among the daughters.
2. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989. Artist's life.
3. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989. First person plural.
4. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989. Love possessed Juana.
5. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989. Moyen age.
6. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989. On mime.
7. Enters, Angna, 1897-1989. Silly girl.
8. Itō, Michio, 1893-1961.
9. Kalonyme, Louis.
10. Lewin, Albert, 1894-1968.
11. O'Keeffe, Georgia, 1887-1986.
12. O'Neill, Eugene, 1888-1953.
13. Porter, Katherine Anne, 1890-1980.
14. Renoir, Dido.
15. Renoir, Jean, 1894-1979.
16. Rostand, Edmond, 1868-1918. Chantecler. English.

Research call number

1. (S) *MGZMD 158