As historians, commentators, and others reflect on the past, they will surely rank New York City Ballet among the boldest cultural achievements of the 20th century. And NYCB is well positioned to achieve equal greatness in the next 50 years. Now is the time for the Company to create the means to preserve and document its history.
Dance is ephemeral, to be experienced in the moment.
Like many dance artists and companies, NYCB s founders and supporters never thought to establish a formal process to document and preserve what happened in the studio, on the stage, and in their interactions with the larger world. Many of the riches of NYCB history letters, documents, choreographic notation, costumes, and artifacts are stored in boxes and basements. Some have been lost altogether. To be sure, dance historians have written about Balanchine and Robbins. The Company has taped a representative selection of its performances over the past 16 years and now has a small, professionally staffed video archive and music library.