THE DANCE HISTORIAN IS IN Returns With An Exploration of Frederick Ashton, Agnes de Mille, and Antony Tudor In March

The Dance Historian Is In, a monthly series at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, will present a discussion of the early careers of dance legends Frederick Ashton, Agnes De Mille, and Antony Tudor in 1930's England, on Wednesday, March 27, 2024, 1:00-3:00 P.M., at the Library's Bruno Walter Auditorium at Lincoln Center.

The discussions, conducted by Jane Pritchard, Curator of Dance at London's Victoria and Albert Museum, and moderated by Diana Byer, founder of New York Theatre Ballet and School, will explore the choreographer's formative years spent at Marie Rambert's Ballet Club and the Mercury Theatre in London. 

Through performance excerpts and archival images and film, Pritchard and Byer will delve into the formative years of Ashton, de Mille, and Tudor in which the three trained, performed, and choreographed together. The program will examine their early training and cultural influences which shaped the groundbreaking work of their later years.

Performances include current and former dancers from New York Theatre Ballet in the trio from Ashton's Capriol Suite, a solo from de Mille's first work of choreography, Stage Fright (now titled Debut at the Opera), and the fourth solo from Tudor's Dark Elegies. An audience Q&A will conclude the presentation. 

The Dance Historian Is In events at Library for the Performing Arts are free to the public. The Library is located at 40 Lincoln Center Plaza (entrance at 111 Amsterdam between 64th and 65th Streets) in New York City. Advance registration is requested. The event will also be live streamed over Zoom with a link available the morning of March 27.

To register, please visit: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/the-dance-historian-is-in-diana-byer-and-jane-pritchard-tickets-838685760687

The Dance Historian Is In

For more than 10 years, The Dance Historian Is In at the Library for the Performing Arts has highlighted a diverse range of dancers and choreographers across history. This series began when archivist and historian David Vaughan started volunteering at the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Vaughan began a monthly program showing his favorite dance films from the Division's extensive collection, through which he unearthed many treasures, and helped acquire even more. Vaughan continued the series until the end of his life. Each month, we honor his memory and work by inviting dance historians from all over the world to carry on the tradition of highlighting dance history through the Dance Division's moving image collection.

About Jane Pritchard

Jane Pritchard is curator of dance for the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (V&A). With Geoffrey Marsh she curated Diaghilev and the Golden Age of the Ballets Russes, 1909–1929 for the V&A and she edited the accompanying book. Previously she was archivist for Rambert Dance Company and English National Ballet, and created the Contemporary Dance Trust Archive. Her other exhibitions include Les Ballets 1933 (which toured Britain and was seen at Saratoga, New York), Rambert Dance Company at 75, and A Flash of Light: The Dance Photography of Chris Nash. She curated seasons of dance films for the BFI Southbank, London; the British Council for Japan, the Philippines, and Korea; and the Nureyev Foundation. She lectures widely on dance and has made BBC radio programs on the Ballets Russes and the 19th- century composer for dance Georges Jacobi. She has contributed to numerous publications including the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, The Annual Register, Dance Chronicle, Dance Research, and The Dancing Times. She was a recipient of a Churchill Travel Fellowship and the Anthony Denning Research Award. Her most recent book is Anna Pavlova Twentieth-Century Ballerina.

About Diana Byer

Diana Byer is the founder and Artistic Director Emerita of New York Theatre Ballet (NYTB) and Director of New York Theatre Ballet School. A former professional dancer, she was a long-time pupil and colleague of Margaret Craske, who was Director of Ballet Instruction at New York Theatre Ballet School until her retirement. Byer is a répétiteur for The Antony Tudor Trust and a member of the Board of Drectors of the Dance Notation Bureau and the Clive and Valerie Barnes Foundation. She is currently the Director of Education for the Dance Notation Bureau. She has staged the ballets of Antony Tudor for American Ballet Theatre (ABT) and The Hartt School, and the ballets of Agnes De Mille for Alabama Ballet and ABT. She also coached the principals for the Columbia Pictures film, Center Stage. In 1988, Byer founded NYTB's community LIFT program, providing dance classes, scholarships, and services to homeless and at-risk New York City children. She has received the Helen Wieselberg Award from the National Arts Club, a Humanitarian Hero recognition from Good Housekeeping Magazine for her ongoing work with LIFT, and a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Martha Hill Dance Fund. A feature-length film, documenting Byer's journey of LIFT was featured at the 2022 Tribeca Festival.