Utah ballet archives
Collection
Identifier: MS 0247
Scope and Contents
The Utah ballet archives (1926-2008) consist of the personal records of Willam F. Christensen, an American ballet dancer and choreographer, and the company records of Ballet West, founded by Christensen. The collection reflects Christensen's professional life, his vaudeville career, and his years in Portland, San Francisco, and Salt Lake City. Included are news clippings, correspondence, programs, and other materials regarding his ballet companies in these cities. Also included is Christensen's collection of souvenir programs from various ballet productions he saw. The Ballet West materials are divided into three chronological sections and include administrative files, financial records, correspondence, tour materials, scrapbooks, and other papers. Major divisions of interest within the collection include the company's relationship with the National Endowment for the Arts, and plans and arrangements for the renovation of Salt Lake City's Capitol Theatre through the 1970s, completed in 1978. A large division in Section 2 covers Ballet West's 1971 European tour. Addenda to the collection includes general materials such as correspondence, costume designs, awards, musical scores, dance publications, artwork, and posters.
Dates
- 1926-2008
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Twenty-four hour advanced notice encouraged. Materials must be used on-site. Access to parts of this collection may be restricted under provisions of state or federal law.
Conditions Governing Use
The library does not claim to control copyright for all materials in the collection. An individual depicted in a reproduction has privacy rights as outlined in Title 45 CFR, part 46 (Protection of Human Subjects). For further information, please review the J. Willard Marriott Library’s Use Agreement and Reproduction Request forms.
Biographical Sketch
Willam Farr Christensen was born on August 27, 1902, to Christian Bjorregard and Elizabeth Farr Christensen. In his hometown of Brigham City, Utah, he studied music with his father and dancing with his uncles Moses and L. Peter Christensen. Willam graduated from Box Elder High School and continued his ballet training with Stefano Mascagno, Luigi Albertieri, and Michel Fokine, among other teachers, in New York City and Chicago. He taught ballet in his uncle Peter's dancing schools in Brigham City and Ogden. In 1926 two of the Christensen brothers, Willam and Lew (the other brothers were Harold and Frederick) and two Utah ballet students, Mignon Lee of Ogden and Wiora Stoney of Salt Lake City, organized a ballet act and toured small theatres between the West Coast and Chicago. The act, billed as "The LeCrist Brothers," was conducted by the boys' father. A year later they broke into vaudeville by joining an act called "The Berkoffs," a singing and dancing review. By 1925 the Christensen brothers and their partners were touring the Orpheum Circuit billed as "The Mascagno Four," managed by their teacher Stefano Mascagno. Willam married Mignon Lee on December 3, 1928. "The Christensen Brothers" was the group's title from 1930 to 1932.
In 1932, due to his wife's ill health, Christensen abandoned the vaudeville stage to take over his deceased uncle Moses Christensen's ballet school in Portland, Oregon. While in Portland, 1932 to 1937, he established the Willam F. Christensen Ballet. Among his students were Janet Reed, one of America's first ballerinas, and Mattlyn Gevurtz (Gavers), who joined the Department of Ballet at the University of Utah in 1968 and later became its director.
Willam Christensen was appointed premier danseur of the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1937 by Ballet Master, Serge Oukrainsky. Christensen moved, along with nine of his Portland students, to San Francisco and established a ballet school which later became an adjunct to the company. Succeeding Oukrainsky, Christensen became director of the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1938 and, the following year, staged Coppelia. It was the first time a full-length production of this late nineteenth century ballet had been done by an American choreographer and company. The second such "first" was Swan Lake in 1940, and the third Nutcracker in 1944. Willam, Lew, and Harold Christensen directed the San Francisco Ballet and its school throughout the 1940s, creating the first major ballet company in the western United States.
In 1949 President A. Ray Olpin invited Willam Christensen to choreograph the University of Utah's Summer Festival productions (musicals and operas performed outdoors in the university's stadium). Two years of Summer Festival choreography were followed in 1951 with the offer of the position of professor of ballet. The new Ballet Division fell under the aegis of the Department of Theatre and Speech, then headed by Professor C. Lowell Lees.
In December of 1955, Christensen and the University Theatre Ballet presented the first production of the Nutcracker in the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall, a production which became an annual Christmas treat for Salt Lake City audiences.
The Utah Ballet Society, a community support group for the Theatre Ballet, headed by Mrs. John M. Wallace applied for and received a Ford Foundation grant of $175,000 in 1963. This funding enabled the founding of a professional ballet company from the University Theatre Ballet. The resulting company, Utah Civic Ballet, performed in the Intermountain area from 1964 through 1968. Ballet West was created at the Utah Civic Ballet's invitation to represent the Federation of Rocky Mountain States. Its artistic director was Willam F. Christensen.
The Christensen brothers, Willam, Lew, and Harold, received the Dance Magazine Award in 1973 for their contribution to ballet in the United States. Utah State University awarded Willam Christensen an Honorary Doctorate that same year. Another Honorary Doctorate was awarded Professor Christensen by the University of Utah in 1978, the year of his retirement from Ballet West. His co-artistic director since 1976, Bruce Marks, assumed full directorship of the company.
The Willam F. Christensen Foundation was established in Salt Lake City in 1979, and the Christensen Ballet Academy the following year. A renewed relationship with the University of Utah occurred in the spring of 1981 when it was announced Professor Emeritus Willam F. Christensen would rejoin the faculty of the Ballet Department that he founded in 1951.
In 1932, due to his wife's ill health, Christensen abandoned the vaudeville stage to take over his deceased uncle Moses Christensen's ballet school in Portland, Oregon. While in Portland, 1932 to 1937, he established the Willam F. Christensen Ballet. Among his students were Janet Reed, one of America's first ballerinas, and Mattlyn Gevurtz (Gavers), who joined the Department of Ballet at the University of Utah in 1968 and later became its director.
Willam Christensen was appointed premier danseur of the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1937 by Ballet Master, Serge Oukrainsky. Christensen moved, along with nine of his Portland students, to San Francisco and established a ballet school which later became an adjunct to the company. Succeeding Oukrainsky, Christensen became director of the San Francisco Opera Ballet in 1938 and, the following year, staged Coppelia. It was the first time a full-length production of this late nineteenth century ballet had been done by an American choreographer and company. The second such "first" was Swan Lake in 1940, and the third Nutcracker in 1944. Willam, Lew, and Harold Christensen directed the San Francisco Ballet and its school throughout the 1940s, creating the first major ballet company in the western United States.
In 1949 President A. Ray Olpin invited Willam Christensen to choreograph the University of Utah's Summer Festival productions (musicals and operas performed outdoors in the university's stadium). Two years of Summer Festival choreography were followed in 1951 with the offer of the position of professor of ballet. The new Ballet Division fell under the aegis of the Department of Theatre and Speech, then headed by Professor C. Lowell Lees.
In December of 1955, Christensen and the University Theatre Ballet presented the first production of the Nutcracker in the University of Utah's Kingsbury Hall, a production which became an annual Christmas treat for Salt Lake City audiences.
The Utah Ballet Society, a community support group for the Theatre Ballet, headed by Mrs. John M. Wallace applied for and received a Ford Foundation grant of $175,000 in 1963. This funding enabled the founding of a professional ballet company from the University Theatre Ballet. The resulting company, Utah Civic Ballet, performed in the Intermountain area from 1964 through 1968. Ballet West was created at the Utah Civic Ballet's invitation to represent the Federation of Rocky Mountain States. Its artistic director was Willam F. Christensen.
The Christensen brothers, Willam, Lew, and Harold, received the Dance Magazine Award in 1973 for their contribution to ballet in the United States. Utah State University awarded Willam Christensen an Honorary Doctorate that same year. Another Honorary Doctorate was awarded Professor Christensen by the University of Utah in 1978, the year of his retirement from Ballet West. His co-artistic director since 1976, Bruce Marks, assumed full directorship of the company.
The Willam F. Christensen Foundation was established in Salt Lake City in 1979, and the Christensen Ballet Academy the following year. A renewed relationship with the University of Utah occurred in the spring of 1981 when it was announced Professor Emeritus Willam F. Christensen would rejoin the faculty of the Ballet Department that he founded in 1951.
Extent
73 Linear Feet (89 boxes)
Language of Materials
English
Russian
French
Abstract
The Utah ballet archives (1926-2008) consist of the personal records of Willam F. Christensen, an American ballet dancer and choreographer, and the company records of Ballet West, founded by Christensen. Included are correspondence, memoranda, financial records, news clippings, programs, scrapbooks, and other materials.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Addendum donated by Roxanne Lazzara in 2011.
Separated Materials
Photographs and audio-visual materials were transferred to the Multimedia Division of Special Collections (P0247 and A0247).
Processing Information
Processed by Susan White in 1981.
Addendum processed by Maggie Anderson and Betsey Welland in 2011.
Addendum processed by Maggie Anderson and Betsey Welland in 2011.
Creator
- Title
- Inventory of the Utah ballet archives
- Author
- Finding aid prepared by Susan White.
- Date
- 1981 (last modified: 2011 and 2019)
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid written in English.
Revision Statements
- 2011: Finding aid revised by Maggie Anderson and Betsey Welland.
- 2011: Finding aid re-encoded by Betsey Welland.
Repository Details
Part of the J. Willard Marriott Library Special Collections Repository
Contact:
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu
295 South 1500 East
Salt Lake City Utah 84112 United States
801-581-8863
special@library.utah.edu