Research Catalog

Title

Nanette Bearden papers, 1949-1996.

Author

Bearden, Nanette.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Description

1 lin. ft. (2 archival boxes, 1 print box)

Summary

• The Nanette Bearden Papers document some aspects of Bearden's personal life and her careers as a fashion model and dancer/choreographer. The personal papers include a few letters referring to her husband, Romare Bearden, 1987-1988, and fashion sketches which she drew as a student. The series Modeling Career, 1949-1963, contains programs for fashion shows in which she was featured, print ads, and a script that she wrote for a 1954 fashion show.
• The Dance Career series, 1971-1996, contains information about both dance companies she founded, the Dance Chamber Group and the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre (NBCDT). The files contain information about only a few aspects of the dance companies. The Dance Chamber Dance Company material (1971-1981) includes a notebook that discusses the formation of the company in 1971 and appointment books. Contracts for dancers and for performance venues and choreographers represent both dance companies. Files for the NBCDT include Bearden's notebooks with lists of costumes, contacts, performance itineraries, and programs (1982-1992). The series includes information regarding two dance performances presented by the NBCDT in honor of jazz pianist Mary Lou Williams in 1988 and 1989. There is also correspondence, a narration script, and related material for the Annual Renaissance Award Gala that was dedicated to Romare Bearden in 1992-1993.

Subjects

• Dance companies > New York (State) > New York
• Choreographers > United States
• African Americans in the performing arts
• Fashion drawing
• Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre
• Bearden, Nanette
• African American models
• African American dancers
• Dancers > United States

Genre/Form

Fashion drawing.

Note

• Photographs transferred to Photographs and Prints Division.
• Videotapes and CD transferred to Moving Image and Recorded Sound Division.

Source (note)

• Estate

Biography (note)

• Nanette Bearden (née Rohan) was a fashion model, dancer, and founder of the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre. She modeled for the Ophelia DeVore Agency and appeared in print advertisements featuring a variety of beauty and fashion products. In 1971, she and others formed the Chamber Dance Group of which she was the artistic director. This troupe was the forerunner of the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre (NBCDT), a collective for established and emerging dancers, choreographers, and dance artists, founded in 1977. The company, located in lower Manhattan, was disbanded after Nanette Bearden passed away in 1996. In 2004, her sister Sheila Rohan, also a dancer, revived the company and relocated it to Staten Island.

Call Number

Sc MG 867

OCLC

843128511

Author

Bearden, Nanette.

Title

Nanette Bearden papers, 1949-1996.

Biography

Nanette Bearden (née Rohan) was a fashion model, dancer, and founder of the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre. She modeled for the Ophelia DeVore Agency and appeared in print advertisements featuring a variety of beauty and fashion products. In 1971, she and others formed the Chamber Dance Group of which she was the artistic director. This troupe was the forerunner of the Nanette Bearden Contemporary Dance Theatre (NBCDT), a collective for established and emerging dancers, choreographers, and dance artists, founded in 1977. The company, located in lower Manhattan, was disbanded after Nanette Bearden passed away in 1996. In 2004, her sister Sheila Rohan, also a dancer, revived the company and relocated it to Staten Island.

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Finding Aid

Research Call Number

Sc MG 867