Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1985-1986 (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
One handwritten list, two typed lists, three colour and 12 black and white copies of costume designs, four pages of set design details, two handwritten letters, two telegrams and three pages from a programme
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
Kenneth MacMillan created a new version of his 1960 ballet Le Baiser de la fee for The Royal Ballet which premiered on 8 May 1986 at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. The material comprises:
- Cast list handwritten by Kenneth MacMillan in blue felt pen, giving names of roles with dancers, some alternative names added in pencil. Also gives the number of costumes for each role
- Typed list of dancers in the 1985/86 Season at The Royal Ballet, listed under Principals, Soloists, Coryphees and Artists, with pencil markings by Kenneth MacMillan
- Typed cast list for Baiser de la fee with alternative casts
- Handwritten letter from Norman Morrice, Artistic Director of The Royal Ballet, to Kenneth MacMillan, wishing him 'everything good for tonight's programme and special success for the new Baiser!' 8 May 1986
- Handwritten good luck letter from Anthony Russell Roberts, Administrative Director of The Royal Ballet, praising his 'very imaginative choice of designer', 8 May 1986
- Good luck telegram from Misha [Mikhail Baryshnikov] and Charles [Dillingham], New York, 7 May 1986
- Good luck telegram from Charles Dillingham, New York, 7 May 1986, 'Best Wishes From All of Us for a Great Opening Night. Come Home Soon.'
- Double page spread from the programme for the first performance of this version by The Royal Ballet at the Royal Opera House of Le Baiser de la fee, on a triple bill of MacMillan ballets. Includes quotations from works by G.K.Chesterton on Fairy Tales
- Page torn from the programme with notes by Nicholas Dromgoole on Le Baiser de la fee, hit or myth? On the reverse are programme notes by Clement Crisp on Anastasia and Concerto, the two other MacMillan works on the triple bill
- Three colour and 12 black and white copies of costume designs with the character and dancers' names
- Three pages each with two polaroid photographs of the Model Set and handwritten details and instructions
- One page with two colour schemes attached, with handwritten notes
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
The polaroid photographs are fading and the masking tape used to secure them is losing adhesion. The black and white copies of designs were sticking to each other and have been separated with acid free tissue paper
Finding aids
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
The costume and set design materials are stored in Box 52
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Note
Some material suitable for digitisation
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- MacMillan, Kenneth (Subject)
- Baryshnikov, Mikhail (Subject)
- Morrice, Norman (Subject)
- The Royal Ballet (Subject)