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Title
Date(s)
- 1980-1989, n.d. (Creation)
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One folder, eight printed pages, 15 typed letters with two envelopes, 14 pages of press releases, one press cutting, one handwritten note and two pages of photocopies of press cuttings
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Name of creator
Biographical history
Kenneth MacMillan was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and began ballet classes in Retford, England, in 1940. He joined the Sadler's Wells Ballet School in 1944 and later the Sadler's Wells Ballet but gave up dancing for choreography partly due to crippling stage fright. His first choreographic work was Somnambulism, created for the Sadler's Wells Ballet Choreographic Group in 1953 and he created works for both Royal Ballet companies throughout his career. He created significant works for The Stuttgart Ballet and his works are danced by ballet companies world-wide. He has also created work for television and cinema.
Kenneth MacMillan was Director of the Deutsche Oper Ballet in Berlin from 1966 to 1969, Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet from 1970 to 1977 and its Principal Chroreographer from 1977 until his death. He was also Associate Director of American Ballet Theatre from 1984 to 1989, and Artistic Associate of the Houston Ballet from 1989 to 1992.
Kenneth MacMillan was knighted in 1983, and he received honorary degrees from the University of Edinburgh (1976) and the Royal College of Art (1992). His awards include the Evening Standard Ballet Award (1979); Society of West End Theatre Ballet Award, 1980 and 1983; and, posthumously, the Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Dance Production in 1993 for The Judas Tree; the Society of London Theatre Special Award in 1993; and the Tony Award for Best Choreography in 1994 for Carousel
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Kenneth MacMillan worked with Granada Television on several projects including broadcasts of his ballets. The material in this file includes:
- A silver coloured folder containing three pages from the Granada Music Catalogue listing Gloria, Isadora and The Seven Deadly Sins, and five pages of Programme Information on a broadcast of two ballets by Frederick Ashton and the series of programmes Man and Music
- The majority of correspondence in the file is from Denis Foreman and subjects include explaining the difficulties of having Kenneth MacMillan direct his own ballets for television 28 Feb 1980, Isadora, Let's Make a Ballet piece with Jack Gold 13 Aug 1981, the reasons for not recording Rite of Spring and the disappointment of not being able to capture Monica Mason's performance 27 Nov 1981, suggesting Kenneth MacMillan mount a 25 minute ballet on Sherlock Holmes using Margaret Dale's original choreography for The Great Detective 23 May 1984. There is a letter from Zanna Northam thanking Kenneth MacMillan for agreeing to be interviewed for a film on Christopher Gable, 19 Jan 1989
- Press Release announcing Two Nights with Kenneth MacMillan, A Lot of Happiness and Isadora, broadcast on 15 and 16 Dec 1981
- Two pages of photocopies of reviews of the broadcast of Gloria, 13 and 14 Nov 1982, with covering handwritten note from H [Helen McMurray]
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- MacMillan, Kenneth (Subject)
- Granada Television (Subject)
- Mason, Monica (Subject)