Research Catalog

Title

Leon Danielian papers, 1930-1994.

Author

Danielian, Leon, 1920-1997.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Boris, Ruthanna.
• Chase, Lucia, 1897-1986.
• Chauviré, Yvette, 1917-
• Danilova, Alexandra, 1907-1997.
• Denham, Sergei, 1896-1970.
• Fehl, Fred.
• Loring, Eugene, 1911-1982.
• Mordkin, Mikhail, 1881-1944.
• Novak, Nina.
• Penn, Irving.
• Saroyan, William, 1908-1981.
• Seawell, Wallace.
• Suny, Seda.
• Vollmar, Jocelyn.
• Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
• Ballet Theatre (New York, N.Y.)
• San Francisco Ballet.

Description

8.09 linear feet (9 boxes)

Summary

The Leon Danielian Papers document the career of the American ballet dancer and teacher through an extensive set of photographs, as well as a more limited selection of correspondence, clippings, financial records, and teaching materials.

Subjects

• Ballet dancers
• Dancers
• Dance teachers
• Scenarios
• Danielian, Leon, 1920-1997
• Ballet dancers > United States > 20th century
• Diaries
• Photographs
• Male dancers > United States > 20th century
• Souvenir programs
• Dancers > United States > 20th century
• Dance teachers > United States > 20th century
• Typescripts
• Ballet > United States > 20th century
• Telegrams
• Clippings

Genre/Form

• Clippings.
• Diaries.
• Photographs.
• Scenarios.
• Souvenir programs.
• Telegrams.
• Typescripts.

Source (note)

• Estate of Leon Danielian

Location of Other Archival Materials (note)

• The Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Liberary for the Performing Arts.

Biography (note)

• American ballet dancer and teacher, Leon Danielian (1920-1997) enjoyed an especially varied career as a performer, but is best known for his long association with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Language (note)

• The majority of the collection is in English, but there are a few items in Russian and Spanish.

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

• Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Call Number

(S) *MGZMD 178

OCLC

99659039

Author

Danielian, Leon, 1920-1997.

Title

Leon Danielian papers, 1930-1994.

Biography

American ballet dancer and teacher, Leon Danielian (1920-1997) enjoyed an especially varied career as a performer, but is best known for his long association with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Danielian, a native New Yorker of Armenian ancestry, studied ballet as a child with an influential teacher, Madame Seda, who later sent him to Mikhail Mordkin for additional training. He joined the Mordkin Ballet in 1937 and when that troupe was refashioned into Ballet Theatre in late 1939, Danielian became an original member of the company. He performed solo roles in such pieces as the revival of Michel Fokine's Carnaval, in which he appeared as the Harlequin. During this period, Danielian also would dance on Broadway and Colonel Wassily de Basil's Ballet Russe company, before joining Sergei Denham's rival Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Danielian was active with the company from 1943 to 1961, appearing in a wide-ranging repertory, which displayed his versatility in both classical and character parts. Among his most constant and celebrated roles were the Bluebird in The Sleeping Beauty and the comedic Peruvian tourist in Leonide Massine's Gaîté Parisienne. Throughout his many years with the company, Danielian partnered all of its leading ballerinas, including Alexandra Danilova, Yvette Chauviré, and Nina Novak. Perhaps his most frequent partner, however, was fellow American, Ruthanna Boris, who also featured Danielian in her own original choreography, including Cirque de Deux (1947) and Quelques Fleurs (1948). He toured extensively with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and also appeared as a guest artist and on tours with the San Francisco Ballet during the late 1950s and early 1960s, until worsening arthritis ended his performing career. Following his retirement from the stage, Danielian taught ballet for nearly thirty years. He became co-director of the School of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New York City for several years and served as director of the American Ballet Theatre School in that same city from 1967 to 1980. In 1983, Danielian joined the faculty of the University of Texas at Austin, where he taught in the Department of Theatre and Dance until his retirement in 1991, later becoming a professor emeritus. In 1993, a dance studio and endowed scholarship at the University of Texas were named in his honor.

Location of Other Archival Materials

See also Leon Danielian scrapbooks (*MGZRS 97-5189 and on microfilm in: *ZBD-586) in The Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Liberary for the Performing Arts.

Language

The majority of the collection is in English, but there are a few items in Russian and Spanish.

Indexes

Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Connect to:

Request Access to Special Collections (Dance Division) material

Finding Aid

Occupation

Dance teachers.

Ballet dancers.

Dancers.

Added Author

Boris, Ruthanna.

Chase, Lucia, 1897-1986.

Chauviré, Yvette, 1917-

Danilova, Alexandra, 1907-1997.

Denham, Sergei, 1896-1970.

Fehl, Fred.

Loring, Eugene, 1911-1982.

Mordkin, Mikhail, 1881-1944.

Novak, Nina.

Penn, Irving.

Saroyan, William, 1908-1981.

Seawell, Wallace.

Suny, Seda.

Vollmar, Jocelyn.

Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.

Ballet Theatre (New York, N.Y.)

San Francisco Ballet.

Research Call Number

(S) *MGZMD 178