Alan Howard papers

Collection

Identifier: Dance-MS-Howard

Staff Only

Scope and Content of the Collection

Papers comprise ballet memorabilia from Howard’s career; the bulk concerning ballet performances and ballet-related events, much in New York City. Includes a large collection of articles, newspaper clippings, programs and photographs, many announcements, advertising, scheduling brochures and other printed materials. Also, material relating to benefits for fighting AIDS and a collection of items concerning the reunion of the Ballets Russes and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in New Orleans in 2000.

Dates

Creation: 1924-2002
Creation: Majority of material found within 1980-2002

Creator

Howard, Alan, 1930- (Person)

Language

Materials are in English.

Conditions Governing Access

The Alan Howard papers are open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Alan Howard papers are the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections at reference@newberry.org.

Biography of Alan Howard

American ballet dancer and teacher.

Alan Howard, born in Chicago in 1930, was a lead dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and a ballet teacher. He trained with Edna McRae in Chicago and joined the Ballet Russe in 1949. He rose to the rank of premier danseur in the company, which he left in 1960. He later danced with the Mia Slavenska Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the Metropolitan Opera Company and at Radio City Music Hall. Howard performed and choreographed with such notables as George Balanchine, Leonide Massine, Jerome Robbins, Agnes DeMille, Bronislava Nijinska and Kyra Nichols.

Howard was professor of dance at the Hannover Hochschule fur Musik und Theatre, in Germany, 1974-1991. He founded the Pacific Ballet Academy in San Francisco, which produced the Pacific Ballet, and choreographed several pieces for the company.

Howard was a popular guest teacher and ballet master at many companies and institutions. He died in Chicago in 2003.