Where they danced: patrons, institutions, spaces: Dollars for Dance: Lincoln Kirstein, City Center, and the Rockefeller Foundation
2002; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 25; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1081/dnc-120003121
ISSN1532-4257
Autores Tópico(s)Diversity and Impact of Dance
ResumoClick to increase image sizeClick to decrease image size Acknowledgments Notes *During the School's early years Warburg was the president, Vladimir Dimitriew the vice-president and director, and Kirstein the secretary-treasurer. For the overlapping social and professional ties among the members of Kirstein's circle in the late 1920s and 1930s, including their ties with the Museum of Modern Art, see Weber, Nicholas Fox. Patron Saints: Five Rebels Who Opened America to a New Art 1928–1943; Knopf: New York, 1992. †The company also enjoyed subventions from local governments in Brazil, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Venezuela. The Brazilians, for example, put up $7,500 for two weeks in Rio de Janeiro and one in São Paulo (Kirstein, Lincoln. Draft of a Preliminary Report Concerning the Tour of the American Ballet Caravan in South America, June–September 1941; September 9, 1941; 5; Rockefeller Family Collection, R.G. 4 [NAR/Personal Projects], Series F965, Box 100, Folder [Lincoln Kirstein]). The souvenir program, which was edited by Monroe Wheeler, was made possible by an additional grant from Rockefeller's office (Brief of report from Lincoln Kirstein, Re. Contract No. NDCar-50, effective March 17, 1941; June 14, 1941; Rockefeller Family Collection, R.G. 4 [NAR/Personal Projects], Series F966, Box 101, Folder [Lincoln Kirstein/Ballet Caravan]). In addition to American Ballet Caravan, the CIAA sponsored the Yale Glee Club, an exhibition of contemporary American art arranged by the Museum of Modern Art, Chicago White Sox catcher Moe Berg (on a bat-and-ball tour), and two Spanish-language motion pictures by Walt Disney. For a discussion of these and other projects launched by Rockefeller during his CIAA career, see Reich, Cary. The Life of Nelson A. Rockefeller: Worlds to Conquer 1908–1958; Doubleday: New York, 1996; 214–222. *In the book's acknowledgments Kirstein wrote, ”Above all she [Muriel Stuart] wishes to thank David Vaughan, the young English dancer and choreographer, who emigrated to New York to study in the School of American Ballet and to aid in the final revisions of this text” (The Classic Ballet: Basic Technique and Terminology; Knopf: New York, 1976; vii). In fact, his role, Vaughan told me, was far greater; he did not simply revise the text but actually wrote (with Stuart) the step and movement descriptions that comprise the heart of the book. *In a letter to Charles B. Fahs, director of the Division of Humanities, written prior to receipt of the grant, Kirstein mentioned a number of possibilities that lack of subsidy precluded exploring. Among them was a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, with music by Virgil Thomson after Mendelssohn, choreography by Balanchine, and the dancers playing speaking as well as dancing roles (Kirstein to Fahs, November 14, 1952; Rockefeller Foundation Archives, R.G. 1.2 [Projects], Series 200R, Sub-series [City Center], Box 392, Folder 3391). *Kirstein served on the ANTA Dance Panel from 1955 until January 1960, when he resigned. For a list of the panel members during this period, see Prevots, Naima. Dance for Export: Cultural Diplomacy and the Cold War; UPNE/Wesleyan University Press: Hanover, NH, 1998; 147–149; introduction by Eric Foner. *In April 1954 Marshall asked John Martin for his opinion of both Ballet Theatre and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, since “a question ha[d] been raised about RF aid to both companies and M's comment was that it would be literally scandalous for the RF to give them its support. Neither company can stand comparison with the New York City Center Company” (Marshall, John. Report of an interview with John Martin, April 21, 1954; Rockefeller Foundation Archives, R.G. 1.2 [Projects], Series 200 R, Sub-series [City Center], Box 392, Folder 3394). An unsigned memo circulated internally explained in greater detail the case against Ballet Theatre: “In the case of Ballet Theatre, the application sent us is virtually prima-facie evidence of the company's uncertain future. We are asked to provide for what amounts to total deficits of over $400,000 a year. We are told that the sources from which this company earlier met its deficits have now dried up. The general impression in informed circles is that it is about to go out of existence” (Current requests for aid to ballet companies, April 22, 1954; Rockefeller Foundation Archives, R.G. 1.2 [Projects], series 200 R, sub-series [City Center], Box 392, Folder 3394). *Unsigned memorandum written on behalf of Charles B. Fahs, March 23, 1953; and response from A.M. dated March 24, 1953; Rockefeller Foundation Collection, R.G. 1.2, Series 200R, Sub-series (City Center), Box 392, Folder 3391. It should be noted that the memorandum requested the addressee to “check on … names” associated not only with City Center but also with the American Shakespeare Festival (which received a Foundation grant either late in 1953 or early in 1954) and the Connecticut College School of the Dance (virtually the entire faculty). Unfortunately, the attached response deals only with the City Center names. Kirstein's FBI files detail other left-wing associations, such as speaking in 1947 at a Cultural Freedom and Civil Liberties conference sponsored by the Progressive Citizens of America, declared a Communist front; calling for a national convention of American revolutionary writers in 1935; subsequently being a member of the Communist-dominated League of American Writers. The FBI ran its last check on Kirstein in March 1985, when he was invited to the White House to receive an award. In addition to the files at the Washington office of the FBI, there are files at the FBI's branch office in New York. †Memorandum: New York City Ballet: Proposed European Tour, 1953; n.d. [August 18, 1953]; Rockefeller Foundation Archives, R.G. 1.2 (Projects), Series 200 R, Sub-series (City Center), Box 392, Folder 3392. This unsigned memorandum was attached to John Marshall's account of a meeting with Kirstein in which he expressed “considerable distress about his unexpected inability to secure $50,000 needed for transportation costs of the Ballet Company of New York City Center in a remarkable European tour definitely scheduled for the autumn, during which the Company would appear at most of the leading opera houses of Europe. Expenses in Europe are fully covered by local guarantees, but transportation costs simply cannot be earned. Until quite recently, K had what he supposed a firm agreement with one of his friends that the friend in question would meet those charges. Now, quite unexpectedly, the friend has found himself unable to do so.” *After his resignation Kirstein told Charles B. Fahs that “He [Kirstein] had never had the full artistic control which we assumed he had at the time of our original grant. While he recognized the feelings of other directors that his plans would increase the cost of the City Center overhead, he had also felt that with high-quality productions additional support could be found. He felt that the difference between his theoretical powers and the actual situation in which policy was determined by Morton Baum had reached the point where it was undignified for him to continue with the title, managing director” (Fahs, Charles B. Report of an interview with Lincoln Kirstein, January 31, 1955; Rockefeller Foundation Archives, R.G. 1.2 [Projects], Series 200 R, Sub-series [City Center], Box 392, Folder 3396). Kirstein was far less circumspect in discussing his resignation with the press: “If one sees the City Center as a money-making concern,” he told Howard Taubman of the New York Times, “I see the City Center as a money-spending concern. If we had the highest artistic principles, we would get the money” (Taubman, Howard. City Center Director Quits in Policy Fight. New York Times, January 28, 1955).
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