Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1982-1983 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
10 typed letters, 11 handwritten letters, 6 handwritten postcards, 10 pages of photocopies, 17 typed pages, one image, two compliments slips and five envelopes
Context area
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
Name of creator
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Repository
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Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The material in this folder consists of correspondence from members of the cast and artistic administration at the Royal Exchange Theatre, Manchester, and with agents and members of the public. There is also some reference material relating to August Strindberg. The material comprises
- Five handwritten letters, three with envelopes, one handwritten postcard and one typed list from Jill Bennett to Kenneth MacMillan, Mar - Nov 1983 and n.d. One handwritten postcard from Robert Hardy to Jill Bennett which she has forwarded to Kenneth MacMillan, n.d.
- Three handwritten letters, two with envelopes, from Edward Fox to Kenneth MacMillan, Apr and Jun 1983 and n.d.
- Two handwritten postcards, two typed letters, one with envelope, from Michael Meyer to Kenneth MacMillan. One letter encloses Michael Meyer's programme note Strindberg and The Dance of Death
- Copies of correspondence from Saraband Associates and Fraser and Dunlop Ltd, copied to Kenneth MacMillan, re the use of Michael Meyer's adaptation of The Dance of Death, Nov 1982-Mar 1983. Two pages of carbon copy and 10 fax pages, two compliments slips and one typed note
- One typed letter from Casper Wrede, Resident Artistic Director, to Kenneth MacMillan, 9 Nov 1983
- One handwritten letter from Michael Elliott, Artistic Director, to Kenneth MacMillan, 6 Nov 1983
- One handwritten letter from Helen [McMurray] to Kenneth MacMillan, on Granada TV Ltd headed notepaper, 21 Oct 1983
- One typed letter of praise to Kenneth MacMillan, signature illegible, n.d.
- One handwritten copy of a letter from Kenneth MacMillan to Miss Alexander confirming that all roles in the play have been filled, 17 Jul 1983
- One typed letter from Robert Lantz, New York, re recent meeting and possibility of working together in the future, 7.6.1983
- One typed list of possible actors and their agents, from Saraband Associates, 16.5.1983
- One handwritten postcard from Adrian Mitchell, postmarked 5.5.1983, and one handwritten postcard from Ted Hardwicke (? signature not clearly legible), with envelope, 11.5.1983
- One typed letter from Fraser and Dunlop Ltd with two black and white photographs of possible actors for the children in the play, 23.3.1983
- One copy of a typed letter from the Finance Manager of the Royal Exchange Theatre to Saraband Associates re Kenneth MacMillan's contract, 15.3.1983
- One image of a danse macabre
- Photocopy of an article Strindberg and the Danse Macabre by Walter Johnson, from Modern Drama (May 1960), five pages
- Photocopies of The Turning Point, uncredited and undated, five pages
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
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Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
The fax pages have been photocopied onto acid free archival paper
Some of the correspondence could be interesting to digitise
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- MacMillan, Kenneth (Subject)
- Strindberg, August (Subject)
- Bennett, Jill (Subject)
- Fox, Edward (Subject)
- Meyer, Michael (Subject)
- Wrede, Casper (Subject)
- Elliott, Michael (Subject)
- Hardy, Robert (Subject)