| Collecting Strand | National Resource Centre for Dance |
| Level | Collection |
| Ref No | HB |
| Title | Harlequin Ballet Archive |
| Date | 1935-2000 |
| Extent | 31 books; 236 pieces of artwork/designs; 35 boxes of documents and bound volumes; 5 boxes of photographs; 30 posters; 440 theatre programmes and 4 cast lists; 214 periodicals; 4 scrapbooks; and 86 objects (catalogued material)
21 boxes and 4 batches of outsized material (uncatalogued material) |
| Name of Creator | Harlequin Ballet Trust Limited |
| Gregory; John Edward (1914-1996); dancer, teacher and choreographer |
| Gregory; Barbara (1918-); dancer |
| Description | This archive represents the professional work of John Gregory and his wife, Barbara Gregory and includes records of
- the Harlequin Ballet Company (1959-1969):
a small scale touring company run by John and Barbara Gregory with dancers drawn from their own school. The aim of the company was to demonstrate the Russian ballet style and to tour Great Britain, particularly towns which would not otherwise have acces to dance.
The archive includes financial records, documents relating to tours and productions, press and publicity material, correspondence and records relating to the closure of the company. There are also programmes, press cuttings books, photographs, costume designs, books and periodicals.
- the School of Russian Ballet, later known as the Harlequin Ballet School (1949-1967).
Founded in 1949 by John Gregory and Barbara Vernon, the school had a strong emphasis on the traditional Russian ballet style as taught by Nicolai Legat and his wife Nadia Nicolaeva-Legat, Gregory and Vernon's tutors. Records include financial records, correspondence, publicity material and material relating to students.
- the Federation of Russian Classical Ballet (1950-?), including papers relating to membership, publicity, shows and examinations.
- John Gregory and Barbara Gregory's early performing career (1935-1949)
- John Gregory's writing (1954-1996)
- John and Barbara Gregory's teaching (1949-c1990)
21 boxes and 4 batches of outsized material still require cataloguing. If you require further information about this material, please email archives@surrey.ac.uk. |
| Arrangement | Material arranged at time of cataloguing according to the format-based classification scheme which was then in use by the National Resource Centre for Dance.
The following arrangement was devised at the time of cataloguing. There are known to have been some amendments subequently.
HB/B Books: grouped by language - English first, then Russian
HB/C Artwork: grouped by artist
HB/E Papers: these fall into 8 broad categories, some have their own sub-categories:
- Harlequin Ballet Company (HB/E/1-14)
" Tours
" Productions
" Press and publicity
" Finance
" Arts Council
" Correspondence
" Company Closure
" Meetings
" Registration
" Membership
" Diary's
- School of Russian Ballet/Harlequin Ballet School (HB/E/15-HB/E/18/2)
" Finance
" Correspondence
" Students
" Publicity
- Federation of Russian Classical Ballet (HB/E/18/3-HB/E/21/4)
" Examinations
" Congress
" Shows
" Publicity
" Finance
" Membership
" Correspondence
- Competitions (HB/E/22-23)
" Paris
" USA
" Varna, Bulgaria
" Prix de Lausanne
" Masako Ohya
- John Gregory's Writing (HB/E/24-HB/E/26/2)
- John Gregory's Correspondence (HB/E/26/3-HB/E/29/4)
- John and Barbara Gregory's teaching (HB/E/29/5-HB/E/30/1)
- Arts Council Reports (HB/E/30/4-8)
Outsized material relating to the above headings is found in HB/E/31-36)
HB/F - photographs: these had been stored in broad categories, archive staff classified these categories further
HB/G - posters: grouped in chronological order
HB/H - Theatre Programmes: catalogued by company and then by date
HB/K - Periodicals: grouped by title
HB/N - Scrapbooks: Catalogued as found
HB/O - Objects: grouped by date
|
| Accruals | No further accruals expected |
| Custodial History | Harlequin Ballet Archive was donated by company founders John and Barbara Gregory. The archive was deposited in seven batches: 22 June 1996; 16 July 1996; 14 September 1996; 23 November 1996; July 1998; date unknown; July 2003. |