How can we know the Dance from the Dancer: the story of Josephine and Hermene Schwarz, 1998

When researching this collection, it is useful to know the following distinct groups and their interrelated activities: the Dayton Ballet School, (formerly the Schwarz School of the Dance, then renamed the Dayton Ballet Dance Center), is the official school for the Dayton Ballet Company. The Dayton Ballet First Company is a professional performing group of approximately 15 dancers. Dayton Ballet II is the apprentice/training company for the first company. Both companies are supported and promoted by The Dayton Ballet Association. The Dayton Ballet Association is a non-profit corporation which maintains a staff, a rehearsal hall, and an office for company classes, rehearsals, business and meetings. The Friends of the Dayton Ballet is the volunteer service arm of the Dayton Ballet Association and fulfills various company needs as they arise.

The records within the Dayton Ballet Company collection are divided into five series, I: Early Dance Companies and Support Groups, II: Schwarz School of the Dance, III: Dayton Ballet Dance Center, IV: Dayton Ballet School, and V: Dayton Civic Ballet/Dayton Ballet Company. Each series is further organized into subseries. The basic arrangement within each subseries is chronological, except for the performance photographs, which for the most part are stored in alphabetical order by the name of the ballet performed.

Series I, Early Dance Companies and Support Groups, spans 1938-1960, and falls into five subseries. Subseries I-A, Dayton Theater Dance Group contains, organizational papers, a constitution, scattered annual reports, audition records, financial records, performance programs, and correspondence.

Subseries I-B, Children’s Ballet Company, consists solely of financial records of the company from 1955.

In 1957 the Dayton Theater Dance Group and the Children's Ballet Company merged to form the Dayton Ballet Theater. Subseries I-C, Dayton Ballet Theater, contains administrative and financial records as well as some correspondence and performance programs of the merged organization dating 1956-1958.

Subseries I-D, Dayton Ballet Society, 1953, contains scattered records of the dance appreciation group organized to support the Dayton Theater Dance Group and the Children's Ballet Company. Included is a constitution for the organization and several bulletins. All records in this subseries are from the year 1953.

Subseries I-E, Dayton Dance Guild, consists of lecture demonstration programs, scattered minutes, and miscellaneous papers of the Dayton Dance Guild, another community support group for the early dance companies. Records in this subseries date from 1945 1958.

Series II, Schwarz School of the Dance, is organized by record type into four subseries. Subseries II-A Administrative Records, 1933-1987, contains some advertising brochures, school announcements, scattered correspondence, and information about a recently formed alumni association. Subseries II-B, Performance Records, 1933-1979, contains the recital bulletins and programs. Subseries II-C, Costume Designs, is a small subseries of costume designs spanning 1945-1965. Subseries II-D, Photographs, contains photographs of ballet performances and students and staff spanning 1927 1963. Also see Series V-E Photographs and Slides, which include photos from the Schwarz School of Dance which were enlarged and used for displays in later years.

Series III, Dayton Ballet Dance Center, 1984-1987 and Series IV, Dayton Ballet School, have only one subseries each containing administrative records. These series contain miscellaneous materials from both the Dayton Ballet Dance Center and Dayton Ballet School, and date from the 1980s.

Series V, Dayton Civic Ballet/Dayton Ballet Company, 1907-1998, comprises the majority of the collection. Most of the records in this series begin in 1958, when the Dayton Ballet Theater and its support group combined and incorporated as the Dayton Civic Ballet, although there are some earlier records included because of their provenance. Series V is divided into thirteen subseries. Subseries V-A consists of administrative records, including constitutions, bylaws, minutes of the Board of Directors' meetings, Board of Directors' correspondence, annual reports, newsletters, membership lists, and contractual agreements. Records in this subseries cover the years 1958 1990.

Subseries V-B, Financial Records, include budgets and financial reports for the years 1958 1985, company inventories for 1966 1979, information on scholarships, and a file containing several grant proposals written to the Ohio Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Humanities, and various local corporate foundations. Span dates for this subseries are 1956 1988.

Subseries V-C, Performance Records, contains an extensive collection of performance programs. In addition, the subseries has correspondence and planning information for special performances and lecture/demonstration programs, also repertoire and booking data, company audition records, and correspondence and negotiations with various guest artists and choreographers who have worked with the Dayton Ballet over the years. There is much information on the amount of work and preparation that goes into a performance by the ballet. Span dates for the subseries are 1951-1995.

Subseries V-D, Costume Designs, are listed by date and filed according to the performance that they were designed for. Also included are two articles on costuming by Hermene Schwartz. The subseries dates from 1940 to the 1981.

Subseries V-E, Photographs and Slides, offer positive images and some negatives from the various productions and rehearsals. These date 1940-1991 and are sorted by the format.

Subseries V-F, Audio Reels and Videocassettes, contains audio recordings, and videotapes spanning 1982-1998. The reels and cassettes are sorted by the type of media.

Subseries V-G, Auxiliary Organizations, contains minutes, financial reports, announcements, and newsletters for two auxiliary organizations the Friends of the Dayton Ballet and the Dayton Performing Arts Fund covering the years 1959-1995.

Subseries V-H, Associations and Festivals, includes material connected with the Dayton Ballet's membership in the National Association for Regional Ballet (NARB), the Northeastern Regional Ballet Association (NERBA), the American Dance Guild, and the Association of Ohio Dance Companies. Included in this subseries are newsletters, correspondence, membership rosters, festival preparation details and programs, broadsides, regional conference material, member company evaluations, and some publications of the NARB and the NERBA. This subseries has much useful information about the regional ballet movement, and Dayton Ballet's long, active, and influential involvement with it. The subseries also includes material relating to Josephine Schwarz's participation in the Ohio Arts Council. Span dates for the subseries are 1959 1988. Subseries V-I, Correspondence, covers such topics as choreography, staging, touring, festivals, performances, booking details, educational programs, company personnel, financial matters, and public relations. There are also specific correspondence files for Josephine Schwarz, former Director of the Dayton Ballet, and Jon Rodriguez, a former Associate Director of the company and Director of the Ballet School, which mainly contain correspondence with their colleagues throughout the dance world.

Subseries V-J, Publicity, consists of press releases, promotional material, broadsides, and press clippings. Span dates for this subseries are 1913 1995.

Subseries V-K, Miscellaneous, 1907-1988, contains an assorted collection of files including an article on medical problems of dancers; some information about a short lived associated group of dancers, the Dayton Chamber Dance Company; a proposal for a BFA in Dance at Wright State University; and some reminiscences about Hermene Schwartz after her death; some information on a training program for a dance class pianist; and a file containing miscellaneous papers relating to Josephine Schwarz.

Subseries V-L, Scrapbooks, contain a chronological record of programs, broadsides, newspaper and magazine articles and memorabilia covering the early careers of Josephine and Hermene Schwarz, the Schwarz School of the Dance, the early dance groups, and the Dayton Ballet. Dates for the scrapbooks are 1920 1981, and 1989.

Subseries V-M, Oversize Records, mainly contains large publicity posters, but also includes some costume designs, photographs, and citations and awards. These large records date 1959-1987 and are stored in the flat file oversize drawers.