Introduction

This website is intended to preserve and consolidate the 40+ year history of the Cincinnati Ballet. During the company's evolution, due to the nature of the business, there has been a steady turnover among the leadership, the dancers, the board members, administrative and artistic staff, and its many volunteers. As a result, its heritage has been preserved in many ways and forms. It is the intent of this work to bring all of these records together in a form which is logical and easy to use.

There may be omissions, mistakes, and contradictions herein. If you find any such problems, I would be most grateful if you would contact me (see the contact methods below).

Sources

1.) A monograph written by David McLain in 1976 and revised in 1977 which contains very detailed information about the company in its early days. This document is available at the of the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library in downtown Cincinnati.

2.) A book that I prepared in 1990 titled "Cincinnati Ballet; A Source Book of Information 1963-1990." This was revised in 1993 and titled "Cincinnati Ballet; The First Thirty Years." Several copies of this are at the Ballet Office and copies are in the Cincinnati Historical Library at the Museum Center in the West End area and in the UC College Conservatory of Music Library on the Clifton campus.

3.) A book published by the Cincinnati Ballet in 1993 titled "Thirty Years of Dance 1963-1993" This book was edited by Marcia Gammeter (a former board member). Copies of this volume exist at the Ballet Office and the Cincinnati and Hamilton County Public Library in downtown Cincinnati.

4.) The playbills for Cincinnati Ballet productions. I have an almost complete collection of these going back to about 1975 and an incomplete collection going back to the first major production in March 1964. These rather neatly connect with information similar to that from McLain's monograph of 1977.

5.) Newspaper and magazine reviews and articles on the Cincinnati Ballet from 1996 to the present. These were carried on the Company website until the site was moved to an outside contractor in the summer of 2001. I was the webmaster prior to that since its inception in 1996.

6.) Correspondence and other records I have since joining the board in 1977.

7.) There is a gap in information on media reviews and articles and on touring between McLain's monograph of 1977 and 1996 when these items were first preserved on the company website. The section of this work titled "Work in Progress" is an attempt to fill this gap. I am currently going through my own archives and am soliciting information from others to remedy this shortcoming as well as I can. Any assistance any of you can provide would be most welcome. See Contact section below.

Where possible, I have credited the people and organizations who originated the material but many items are not attributed to any person or organization.

Conventions

The years in which works were performed; dancers, board members, and staff were with the company, are rather arbitrarily taken from the playbill for the final performance of each season.

The way names are used follows the following conventions:
1.) Married women's names, if listed in the source material as Mrs. Husband's name are listed with the woman's name in parenthesis. For example, if Jane Doe was listed Mrs. John Doe, her name is listed as Mrs. John Doe (Jane) in this website if their first names are known.

2.) In the cases of name changes due to divorce or marriage, every effort is made to enter the names in there present state. However, when if it is a recent change; for example Mary Smith marries Tom Jones, it is entered as Mary Jones (Smith).

3.) In the case of double surnames, if the names are hyphenated, they are alphabetized by the initial surname. If they are not hyphenated, they are alphabetized by the final surname.

4.) In the dancer lists, it should be noted that prior to the 1987/88 season, principal and soloist designations were not assigned. In subsequent years, the designations are included.

5.) Touring information was meticulously recorded by David McLain through 1977. However, since then no one seems to have recorded touring information. If anyone - perhaps long time dancers, staff people, or board members - can help with this. Please let me know if you have such information.

Contact

History Menu