Alan Howard Papers, 1924-2002

Bequest of Alan Howard, 2003.

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

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.

Alan Howard Papers, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Virginia Hay Smith, 2008.

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.

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.

Papers are organized in the following series:

Title Box Series 1: Clippings, n.d. and 1924-2001 Box 1 Series 2: Photographs, n.d., 1925-1997 Box 1 Series 3: Dance Company Printed Material, n.d., 1939-2002 Box 2 Series 4: Miscellaneous, 1951-2001 Box 3

• Names
  • Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo.
  • Ballets russes.
  • Baryshnikov, Mikhail, 1948-
  • Howard, Alan, 1930-
  • New York City Ballet.
• Subject
  • AIDS (Disease) and the arts
  • Chicago
  • Dance
  • Male dancers
  • Manuscripts, American -- Illinois -- Chicago