| Collecting Strand | National Resource Centre for Dance |
| Level | Collection |
| Ref No | GS |
| Title | Geraldine Stephenson archive |
| Date | Late 19th century-2008 |
| Extent | 50 boxes |
| Name of Creator | Stephenson; Geraldine (1925-2017); Dancer, choreographer and movement director |
| Description | The archive consists of material created and collected by Geraldine Stephenson relating to her education and career as a dancer, choreographer and movement director, with some documents relating to her personal and family life.
The material in the archive comprises:
- records of Stephenson's education, at and later teaching for, the Art of Movement Studio in both its Manchester and Addlestone locations, and as a member of the Laban Guild alongside Rudolf Laban, Lisa Ullman, Valerie Preston-Dunlop, Mary Wigman and Sylvia Bodmer
- working papers and outputs of Stephenson's career as a movement director and choreographer for pageant events, theatre and later television and film. These include audio visual recordings, Stephenson's handwritten choreography sequences, annotated music scores, programmes and publicity material
- Stephenson's research into period and social dance, also including research into social etiquette, costume and socio-historical context of dances.
- personal and family papers including photographs, correspondence, legal documents and related papers
- financial documents issued to and by Stephenson's agency, Talent Artists Ltd.
- records of Stephenson's work with the wider dance and choreography community including lectures, demonstrations and other roles.
- published and unpublished material written by, and relating to, Stephenson.
The archive contains records of Stephenson's long-term artistic relationships and collaborations with individuals such as composer and musician John Dalby and actor Edward Pethebridge. There are also records of long-term recurring choreography work with companies such as the Johann Strauss dancers and orchestra and Raymond Gubbay Ltd for the Johann Strauss galas between 1976 and 2004, and the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, 1951 and the 1954-1957 revivals. The material in the collection covers the wide range of projects Stephenson worked on as a choreographer and movement director, such as crowd choreography, pageants and festivals as well as theatre, television series and films of varying genres. |
| Arrangement | Geraldine Stephenson's archive has been arranged primarily by function, into the following series:
- Personal and family records, late 19th century-2003 (reference number GS/1)
- Education and work at the Art of Movement Studio and early work with the Laban Guild, 1946-2001 (reference number GS/2)
- Research material for dance and choreography, 19th century-2002 (reference number GS/3)
- Working papers and working material for recital performances and choreography projects for pageants, theatre, television and film, 1950s-2008 (reference number GS/4)
- Promotional and publicity material for self choreographed dance, teaching and movement direction and choreography projects for pageants, theatre, television and film, early 1950s-2003 (reference number GS/5)
- Financial and management papers relating to choreography career, 1987-2006 (reference number GS/6)
- Outreach, charity and other roles in the wider dance and choreography community, 1973-2001 (reference number GS/7)
- Memoirs, late 1930s-2006 (reference number GS/8)
- Periodicals, 1951-2006 (reference number GS/9) |
| Administrative History | See Name Authority Record for Geraldine Stephenson, (1925-2017) Dancer, choreographer and movement director [Name Authority Code DS/UK/P614]. |
| Language | English |
| French |
| German |
| Danish |
| Spanish |
| Accruals | No further accruals expected. |
| Related Material | See also the following archives held by Archives and Special Collections, University of Surrey:
Archive of Rudolf Laban, teacher, mentor and later colleague of Geraldine Stephenson [collection reference: L];
Archive of Lisa Ullman, teacher and later colleague of Geraldine Stephenson [collection reference: LU];
Archive of Audrey Wethered, fellow Laban Guild member and peer at the Art of Movement Studio, within the Audrey Wethered and Chloë Gardner Collection [collection reference: AW];
Archive of the Laban Guild [collection reference: LG]. See specifically reference number LG/E/10/6 for the Guild's papers relating to the Kaleidoscopia Viva performance, produced and choreographed by Geraldine Stephenson.
Further material relating to the Art of Movement Studio, attended by Geraldine Stephenson, is held by the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance
Further material relating to the York Cycle of Mystery Plays, choreographed by Geraldine Stephenson 1951-1957, is held by the York Mystery Plays Archive, National Centre for Early Music, York. |
| Physical Description | The archive contains audio visual material. Scrapbooks and photograph albums often have loose or detached material. Some press cuttings are torn. Music manuscript material is often loose within the volume. A physical description of the material has been noted at item level when careful handling is needed. |
| Copyright | The copyright of the material created by Geraldine Stephenson in her archive has been transferred to Archives and Special Collections, University of Surrey.
For material not created by Stephenson, original copyright holders have been identified where possible.
Please check individual items for third party copyright. |
| Custodial History | The greater proportion of the archive (assigned accession reference Acc22-2015) was deposited by Geraldine Stephenson with the National Resource Centre for Dance, University of Surrey, in stages between 2007 and 2012.
An additional set of material (assigned accession reference Acc44-2015) was previously deposited by Dick McCaw at the Brotherton, University of Leeds in 2014. This material was later transferred, upon agreement with University of Leeds, to the National Resource Centre for Dance, Archives and Special Collections, University of Surrey in 2015.
Please note that all alternative reference numbers in the Geraldine Stephenson archive beginning with "MS" or "MSS" were previously allocated by Dick McCaw for his inventory of Stephenson's notes from the Art of Movement Studio. |
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