Martha Swope Photographs *T-VIM 2010-048
The New York Public LibraryNew York Public Library for the Performing ArtsBilly Rose Theatre DivisionMartha Swope Photographsca. 1955 – 2002 and undated(Bulk Dates 1957 – 1994)*T-VIM 2010-048
Martha Swope PhotographsSummaryMain entry:Title:Swope, MarthaMartha Swope Photographs, ca. 1955 – 2002 and undated(Bulk Dates 1957 – 1994)Size:399 linear feet (950 boxes)Abstract:The Martha Swope Photographs consist of negatives,transparencies, contact sheets, prints, and slides documentingperforming arts productions and artists, spanning Martha Swope’scareer as a photographer.Preferred citation:Martha Swope Photographs, Billy Rose Theatre Division, *T-VIM2010-048, The New York Public Library.ii
Martha Swope PhotographsProvenance noteThis collection was donated to the Billy Rose Theatre Division in 2010.iii
Martha Swope PhotographsBiographical / Historical noteBiographical noteLegendary performing arts photographer Martha Swope was born in Waco, Texas and is a graduate ofBaylor University. After studying tap, ballet and acrobatics in Waco, she came to New York to attend theSchool of American Ballet. Swope's career as the performance photographer of record was launchedwhen her classmate, Jerome Robbins, asked her to photograph rehearsals of the show on which he wasworking, West Side Story, in 1957. These photographs (taken with a Brownie camera fastened withadhesive tape) were published in Life Magazine. After seeing her work, Lincoln Kirstein of New York CityBallet gave Swope her first professional assignment as a photographer--rehearsals of the ballet Agon-with choreography by George Balanchine and music by Igor Stravinsky. Although self-taught, for almostfour decades (ca. 1957-ca. 1994), she created iconic images of theater and dance that communicated theessence and artistry of the performer and the work.In 1958, she went to Spoleto, Italy to photograph the Festival of Two Worlds. Here Swope met directorJosé Quintero who hired her to photograph productions for Circle in the Square Theatre, leading toSwope's extensive career as photographer of over 800 theater productions, on and off Broadway,including Annie, Cats, A Chorus Line, Evita, 42nd Street, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Private Lives withRichard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor, and The Will Rogers Follies. She also photographed numerousproductions for many theater companies such as the American Shakespeare Festival Theater, New YorkShakespeare Festival, Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, as well as for Brooklyn Academy of Musicand Roundabout Theatre. She often went out of town to photograph productions in previews. Swopealso photographed spectacular productions at Radio City Music Hall.Swope's dance background gave her the unique ability to anticipate and kinesthetically understand theform and line of the dancer's movement, capturing the precise moment of perfect execution. To this end,when hired to photograph the Martha Graham Dance Company, Swope took classes at the school formany months in order to be able to communicate the fluidity and drama of modern dance in herphotographs. She created memorable images of the world's most famous dancers and choreographersincluding George Balanchine, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jacques d'Amboise, Suzanne Farrell, MarthaGraham, Cynthia Gregory, Gelsey Kirkland, José Limon, Natalia Makarova, Peter Martins, RudolfNureyev, Jerome Robbins, and Paul Taylor.Swope has photographed virtually every major dance company, including American Ballet Theatre, NewYork City Ballet, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Eliot Feld, Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, MarthaGraham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, José Limon, Paul Taylor DanceCompany, and Twyla Tharp. She has also been company photographer for American Ballet Theatre,Dance Theatre of Harlem, New York City Ballet, and the Martha Graham Dance Company. Among theinternational dance companies Swope has photographed are Alicia Alonso and her company in Cuba in1979, Maurice Bejart's Ballet of the Twentieth Century, the Bolshoi Ballet, and the Royal Danish Ballet.She has also photographed many smaller dance companies.Swope has also photographed numerous productions for the Metropolitan Opera, including its nationalcompany in the 1960s, New York City Opera, and productions at the Brooklyn Academy of Music.She also photographed a wide range of music groups and performers such as the Brooklyn PhilharmonicOrchestra, Barry Manilow, and Jo Sullivan. Swope's photographs of films include the iconic poster shot ofJohn Travolta in Saturday Night Fever (1977). Among the many figures in the arts and personalitiesphotographed are Laurie Anderson, Victor Borge, Princess Diana, Phyllis Diller, and Joseph Papp. Shealso photographed the circus, including Barnum & Bailey and the Big Apple Circus, as well as ice shows,and functions and benefits held by performing arts organizations such as The Dramatists Guild and theYoung Playwrights Festival.Her work has appeared in countless publications. Published books include Baryshnikov at Work, textedited and introduced by Charles Engell France (Knopf, 1976.); Cynthia Gregory Dances Swan Lake(Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 1990), Martha Graham, text by LeRoy Leatherman,iv
Martha Swope PhotographsBiographical / Historical note(Knopf, 1966), Mourka: The Autobiography of a Cat by Tanaquil Le Clercq (Stein and Day, 1964); WhatThey Did for Love by Denny Martin Flinn, (Bantam Books, 1989); New York City Ballet, text by LincolnKirstein, photographs by Martha Swope and George Platt Lynes (Knopf, 1973).Swope's awards include 2004 Tony Honors for Excellence in the Theatre, 2006 Lifetime Achievementfrom the League of Professional Theatre Women, and the Humane Society (2010). She lives in NewYork City.v
Martha Swope PhotographsScope and content noteScope and content noteThe collection consists of over 1,520,000 images, black and white and color, on contact sheets withcorresponding negatives and transparencies (mostly 35 mm and 120), 152,000 slides, and more than12,000 prints taken by Martha Swope from ca. 1957-1994. There are also some programs andclippings filed with the images, often illustrating where the image was published or used.These items document Swope's work with theater productions--mostly Broadway and Off Broadway,dance companies, opera productions, music groups, circus, film, television, individual performers, andperforming arts-related personalities. A number of theater related events are also documented, aswell as some theater marquees. Included are rehearsal photographs, production shots, studio shots,and portraits. Performers are sometimes photographed with their pets.The collection is arranged by format, then by topics following the arrangement of Swope's own files,with individual entry data transcribed from the original envelopes and folders.Arrangement noteThe Martha Swope Photographs are organized in the following series:Series I:NegativesSub-series 1 – TheaterSub-series 2 – Theater RelatedSub-series 3 – CircusSub-series 4 – Movies and TelevisionSub-series 5 – OperaSub-series 6 – Other MusicSub-series 7 – DanceSub-series 8 – PeopleSub-series 9 – MiscellaneousSeries II:Large NegativesSub-series 1 – ColorSub-series 2 – Black and WhiteSeries III:PrintsSub-series 1 – TheaterSub-series 2 – DanceSub-series 3 – PeopleSeries IV:SlidesSub-series 1 – TheaterSub-series 2 – Theater RelatedSub-series 3 – CircusSub-series 4 – Movies and TelevisionSub-series 5 – Opera and Other MusicSub-series 6 – DanceSub-series 7 – People and MiscellaneousSeries V:Exhibition PrintsSub-series 1 – TheaterSub-series 2 – TelevisionSub-series 3 – DanceSub-series 4 - Peoplevi
Martha Swope PhotographsScope and content noteSeries VI:Digitized ImagesSeries descriptionsSeries I:Negatives, ca. 1955 – 2002 and undatedSub-series 1 – Theater, 1957 – 2002Sub-series 2 - Theater Related, 1968 - 1993Sub-series 1 – Theater, 1957 – 2002335 boxesThis series contains negatives (35 mm and 120) and contact sheets for more than 800 theaterproductions photographed by Swope beginning with West Side Story rehearsals in 1957 through the mid1990s. Publicity, rehearsal and production photos are primarily of Broadway and Off-Broadway shows,but also include out-of-town tryouts and tours, as well as regional theater productions. Annie, Cats, AChorus Line, Evita, 42nd Street, Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Private Lives with Richard Burton andElizabeth Taylor, and The Will Rogers Follies are extensively documented in the collection. Radio CityMusic Hall spectacles, such as Encore and Five-Six-Seven-Eight . Dance!, and ice shows are alsoincluded. There are also numerous images for productions by the American Shakespeare FestivalTheater, Brooklyn Academy of Music, New York Shakespeare Festival, Repertory Theater of LincolnCenter, and Roundabout Theatre.Sub-series 2 – Theater Related 1968 – 19935 boxesIncluded in this series are negatives and contact sheets of diverse subjects, such as awards ceremoniesand parties, of performing arts organizations including the Dramatists Guild, New York ShakespeareFestival, Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center, and Young Playwrights. Also among the images are anumber of New York Times assignments and studio photos for Chippendales.Sub-series 3 – Circus, [ca. 1960s] – 19903 boxesThis series consists largely of negatives and contact sheets for Big Apple Circus (1985-1990), but alsoincludes Barnum & Bailey Circus, Le Cirque Imaginaire, Moscow Circus, and Zoppe Circus Europa.Sub-series 4 – Movies and Television, 1966 – 19921.5 boxesThis series is comprised of negatives and contact sheets for images of location shots, candids and othershots for films including The Brink’s Job and Slow Dancing in the Big City. There are a number ofphotographs on diverse topics for Middlemarch Films, including a School of American Ballet class, aDouble Dutch team, Penn & Teller, Max Roach, and Twyla Tharp. Television productions includeChildhood, An Enemy of the People (both NET, 1966) and Fame (1985).Sub-series 5 – Opera, 1964 – 199413 boxesIncluded in this series are negatives and contact sheets of productions, rehearsals, and portraits forgroups such as the Metropolitan Opera Company and its short-lived National Company (1965-1966), NewYork City Opera (1970-1977), and operas produced at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, such as TheDeath of Klinghoffer and Nixon in China.vii
Martha Swope PhotographsScope and content noteSub-series 6 – Other Music, 1960 – 19948 boxesThis series contains negatives and contact sheets for images of a wide range of musical performers andgroups from popular, jazz, gospel, international, and cabaret acts and shows, to classical musicians andgroups. A few of the performers and groups represented are Dick Clark and Connie Francis, Max Roach,the Lavender Light Gospel Choir, Nacha Guevara, Bobby Short, Leonard Bernstein, the BrooklynPhilharmonic Orchestra, and the Tokyo String Quartet.Sub-series 7 – Dance, ca. 1955 – 1994 and undated150 boxesThis series consists of negatives and contact sheets documenting virtually every major dancer,choreographer, and dance company. Images include photographs of rehearsals, productions, studioshots, miscellaneous activities, portraits, as well as some informal shots. Among the dance notablesphotographed by Swope are George Balanchine, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Jacques d'Amboise, SuzanneFarrell, Martha Graham, Cynthia Gregory, Gelsey Kirkland, José Limon, Natalia Makarova, Peter Martins,Rudolf Nureyev, Jerome Robbins, and Paul Taylor, and Twyla Tharp.Of the dance companies included in the collection, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem,Eliot Feld, Martha Graham, and New York City Ballet are especially well-represented. A few of the otherdance companies documented in the collection are the Joffrey Ballet, San Francisco Ballet, MarthaGraham Dance Company, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, and José Limon. Dance companies fromaround the world photographed by Swope include Alicia Alonso and her company in Cuba in 1979,Maurice Bejart's Ballet of the Twentieth Century, the Bolshoi Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, the RoyalBallet, and the Royal Danish Ballet. Images of many smaller dance companies can also be found in thisseries. There are also photographs of the School of American Ballet, New York City Ballet miscellaneousactivities, such as parties, “at-home” shots, sets, and costume sketches.Sub-series 8 – People, 1958 – 199424 boxesThis series contains negatives and contact sheets of images primarily of performers and other performingarts notables. Among those included are Laurie Anderson, Victor Borge, Dixie Carter, Phyllis Diller, JimHenson, Al Hirschfeld, David Mamet, Joseph Papp, Rouben Ter-Arutunian, and Tennessee Williams. Ofparticular note are photographs of Princess Diana at the Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), 1989.Sub-series 9 – Miscellaneous, 1958 – 1979 and undated1 boxThis series consists of negatives and contact sheets mostly of arts events such as benefits and ,exhibitions; also included are images of the Shakespeare Museum in Stratford, Connecticut and itscollections.Series II:Large Negatives, 1958 – 1994 and undated7 boxesIncluded in this series are color negatives, large color transparencies and large black and white negativesof theater productions, theater related activities (films are included here), opera, dance, people, andmiscellaneous. Of particular note are the color transparencies for the film Saturday Night Fever.Sub-series 1 – Color, 1958 – 1994 and undatedSub-series 2 – Black and White, 1959 – 1998 and undatedviii
Martha Swope PhotographsScope and content noteSeries III:Prints, 1957 – 1994 and undatedThis series contains black and white 8 x 10 prints, with a few color prints.Sub-series 1 – Theater, 1966 – 1994Sub-series 2 – Dance, 1957 – 1998 and undatedSub-series 3 – People, 1969 - 1993Sub-series 1 – Theater, 1966 – 199424 boxesThis series is comprised mostly of black and white prints of theater productions and rehearsals; severalshows have a few color prints. La Cage aux Folles, Cats, A Chorus Line, Dreamgirls, Jelly’s Last Jam,My Fair Lady, Othello, and West Side Story are titles well-documented in this series.Sub-series 2 – Dance, 1957 – 1998 and undated15 boxesThis series contains black and white prints of rehearsal, stage and studio images of dancers andchoreographers. New York City Ballet, American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Eliot Feld,Martha Graham, Twyla Tharp and their respective companies are especially well-documented. Amongother dance companies included are Alvin Ailey, Merce Cunningham, Robert Joffrey, José Limón, MarkMorris, and Pilobolus.Sub-series 3 – People, 1969 - 19936 boxesIncluded in this series are mostly black and white (with a few color) prints primarily of theater performers,directors, choreographers, playwrights, lyricists, designers, and other performing arts figures. A fewsubjects include Michael Bennett, Richard Burton, Whoopi Goldberg, Lena Horne, Andrew Lloyd Webber,Joseph Papp, Harold Prince, Meryl Streep, Elizabeth Taylor, Tommy Tune, and George C. Wolfe.Series IV:Slides, 1964 – 1994 and undatedThis series is comprised of color, mounted slides of theater, theater related, circus, movies and television,opera and other music, dance, people, and miscellaneous images.Sub-series 1 – Theater, 1967 - 1994 and undatedSub-series 2 – Theater Related, 1981 - 1993Sub-series 3 – Circus, 1986 - 1990Sub-series 4 – Movies and Television, 1977 - 1987Sub-series 5 – Opera and Other Music, 1977 - 1994Sub-series 6 – Dance, 1960 - 1994 and undatedSub-series 7 – People and Miscellaneous, 1964 - 1993 and undatedSub-series 1 – Theater, 1967 - 1994 and undated51 boxesThis series consists of color slides, mostly Broadway, and Off Broadway theater productions, rehearsals,related events, and publicity shots by Martha Swope from 1967 through 1994. Cats, A Chorus Line,Jerome Robbins' Broadway, Meet Me in St. Louis, and The Pirates of Penzance are well-represented inthe collection, as are the productions of the Repertory Theater of Lincoln Center.ix
Martha Swope PhotographsScope and content noteSub-series 2 – Theater Related, 1981 – 19931 boxThis series includes color slides of theater related events such as awards, benefits and parties byperforming arts organizations such as the New York Shakespeare Festival. Also included are severaltheater exteriors and marquees.Sub-series 3 – Circus, 1986 – 19903 boxesThis series contains images mostly of Big Apple Circus (New York, Philadelphia and Washington, DC),but also of the Moscow Circus and Zoppe Circus Europa.Sub-series 4 – Movies and Television, 1977 - 19872 boxesIncluded in this series are images of casts and other personnel both on-camera and off, as well as posterphotos; of note is the Saturday Night Fever iconic poster with John Travolta and Karen Lynn Gorney. Thefilms The Brink's Job and Slow Dancing in the Big City are well-documented.Sub-series 5 – Opera and Other Music, 1977 – 19945 boxesThis series consists of photographs of opera productions and artists. A number of Brooklyn Academy ofMusic productions are included, such as The Death of Klinghoffer (1991) and Nixon in China (1987); theBolshoi Opera and New York City Opera are also represented. Performers of other music genresincluding Laurie Anderson, Bobby McFerrin, Pat Metheny, Meredith Monk, and Steve Reich can also befound.Sub-series 6 – Dance, 1960 - 1994 and undated75 boxesThis series is comprised of slides of performance, rehearsal and studio shots of dance companies.American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem and Eliot Feld are extensively documented. Smalleror other companies/individuals include Alicia Alonso in Cuba, Mikhail Baryshnikov (including the televisionprogram Baryshnikov on Broadway, 1980), Mark Morris, Rudolf Nureyev, Paul Taylor, and Twyla Tharp.There are also miscellaneous images such as a Minolta ad and several photos of young ballerinas, balletpositions, and toe shoes. The series is arranged following Swope's categories and box titles.Sub-series 7 – People and Miscellaneous, 1964 - 1993 and undated1 boxThis series contains images of personalities either in performance, rehearsal, studio, or attending anevent. Princess Diana, Cynthia Nixon and Rouben Ter-Artunian are among those included.Miscellaneous jobs photographed by Martha Swope include magazine covers and restaurants.x
Martha Swope PhotographsScope and content noteSeries V:Exhibition Prints, 1957 – ca. 19934 boxesIncludes black and white prints, some matted and framed, some oversized, some signed by MarthaSwope.Sub-series 1 – Theater, 1967 – 1993?Sub-series 2 – Television, 1979 - 1980Sub-series 3 – Dance, 1957 - 1978Sub-series 4 – People, 1959 - 1978Series VI:Digitized Images, 1957 - 1994156 boxesThis series contains images digitized before the donation of the Martha Swope Photographs to New YorkPublic Library. It consists of color and black and white images, mostly of theater productions, but also ofdance and people.There are numerous images of Annie, Cats, Dancin, My One and Only, The Will Rogers Follies, and TheWiz. New York Shakespeare Festival Players are also included. Rehearsal, stage and miscellaneousphotos of New York City Ballet, including a series of The Nutcracker images are also included. Images ofthe School of American Ballet and of Martha Graham and her company can also be found in this series.People include actors, directors, producers, choreographers, playwrights, musicians, performers, anddesigners, such as Marin Alsop, Michael Bennett, Agnes de Mille, John Curry, Jane Greenwood, VladimirHorowitz, Van Johnson, Yo-Yo Ma, Andrea McArdle, Margaret Mead,. Jo Mielziner’s studio, Arthur Miller,Mike Nichols, Joseph Papp, Linda Ronstadt, and Tommy Tune.These images are arranged by “SW” numbers and sub-headings created previous to the donation ofthe collection to New York Public Library. These “SW” numbers match the arrangement of the digitalimages av
Martha Swope Photographs ii Summary Main entry: Swope, Martha Title: Martha Swope Photographs, ca. 1955 – 2002 and undated (Bulk Dates 1957 – 1994) Size: 399 linear feet (950 boxes) Abstract: The Martha Swope Photographs consist of negatives, transparencies, contact sheets, prints, and slides documenting
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Check your local PBS listings to fi nd out when the show airs in your area, and look for the books that started it all. Martha's adventures in print are published by Houghton Miffl in Harcourt and include: Martha Speaks, Martha Calling, Martha Blah Blah, Martha Walks the Dog, Perfectly Martha, and Martha and Skits.
Swope's work for institutional theaters, such as the New York Shakespeare Festival, serves as annals of their productions and participants. She also worked extensively in the commercial theater. Some images were taken at photo ops, demonstration rehearsals that were open to press photographers. But Swope was also given unique access to production
Through Grandpa's Eyes Maclachlan What You Know First Maclachlan Author Study - Marshall, James 69 Grade: 2 George and Martha Marshall George and Martha Back In Town Marshall George and Martha Encore Marshall George and Martha One Fine Day Marshall George and Martha Rise and Shine Marshall George and Martha Round and Round Marshall
Swope House Frederick County 7.1 Description F-6-55 The Swope House is a 2 story, fieldstone building located on Stottlemyer Road in the vicinity of Thur110nt, Maryland. The principal facade, facing east, contains 3 bays. A bank barn, a small shed and an outhouse, located to the
Junior Achievement is starting at Swope. It is open to all Swope students on a first come, first served basis. The group can be as large as 24 students. If you are interested in being a part of Junior Achieve-ment the meetings are on: Tuesdays - 11/20, 11/27, 12/4, 12/11, 12/18 and the final meeting will be on Thursday 12/20. Meetings will be held
I agree to pay these charges on the day that the services are provided, within 10 days of receipt of the statement from Swope Health Services or by some other payment arrangement agreed to by Swope Health Services Patient Relations Office, telephone 816-923-5800
‘Tom Sawyer!’ said Aunt Polly. Then she laughed. ‘He always plays tricks on me,’ she said to herself. ‘I never learn.’ 8. 9 It was 1844. Tom was eleven years old. He lived in St Petersburg, Missouri. St Petersburg was a town on the Mississippi River, in North America. Tom’s parents were dead. He lived with his father’s sister, Aunt Polly. Tom was not clean and tidy. He did not .
