Scope and Content Note
The materials in the Muriel Manings and William Korff Papers are primarily documents that highlight the New Dance Group and the artists of the NDG, Muriel Manings's chorography and teaching, and significant artists and artistic movements of the 1940s to 1960s. Particularly strong are materials related to the dance trio of New Dance Group members William Bales, Jane Dudley, and Sophie Maslow, including programs and correspondence. Muriel Manings's life, teaching, choreography, and performances are also documented; unique to her history are journals and correspondence related to her two teaching trips to Cuba in 1970 and 1984. The collection is divided into six series: Professional Papers; Correspondence; Photographs; Programs, Playbills, and Flyers; Printed Matter; and Subject Files.
The series Professional Papers collects documentation of Muriel Manings's career in dance. The materials are not exhaustive, but together provide an overview of her activities in performance, choreography, and teaching in many venues. Of special value are two journals, one for each of her engagements to teach modern dance in Cuba, and the two publications that emerged afterward for each of those trips. Additional evidence of Manings's professional activity can be found in the Correspondence, Photographs, and Programs series.
The Correspondence series includes personal and professional communications in the papers of Muriel Manings and William Korff. As many of their professional associations developed into personal relationships, and vice versa, the correspondence often offers personal and professional content within the same communiqué. Because Manings made core contributions to many dance-related service organizations and centers, some of the letters include information about the New Dance Group, the American Dance Guild, or other organizations and events. The letters from Manings to her family while she was traveling for teaching or performances provide significant insight into her personality and relationships as well as her career. Particularly interesting are letters sent while teaching summers during the American Dance Festival at Connecticut College, her stint in Montreal, and the two teaching engagements in Cuba.
The Photographs series primarily contains photographs and prints of ballet and modern dance choreography, artists, and dance companies. The subjects of the photos are most frequently artists or dance pieces associated with the members of the New Dance Group or Muriel Manings's choreography or teaching. A small number of photos depict important ballet works created in the 1930s and 1940s. Two Antony Tudor works, Pillar of Fire and Undertow, are represented. The Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo company is represented both by studio portraits of its dancers as well as photographs of a fully costumed ensemble. Two works choreographed by Martha Graham are present: Appalachian Spring and Herodiade. From her teaching engagements in Cuba, Muriel Manings became familiar with the Conjunto Nacional de Danza Moderna de Cuba, from which she acquired photographs of dances of different Latino choreographers. A small number of other photographs chiefly unrelated to choreography depict individuals and groups of people or teaching.
The series Programs, Playbills, and Flyers provides documentation of professional performances, namely for New Dance Group and the Dudley-Maslow-Bales Trio. Also represented are galas and benefit performances, programs of multiple artists and companies, several early Chanukah Festivals, the New York City Dance Theatre, Broadway, the New York City Opera Company, and events such as conferences or symposia. Programs are included for Muriel Manings or William Korff lecture-demonstrations, college-sponsored student concerts and workshops, and training programs for young people. Flyers advertising the programming are amongst the materials.
The Printed Matter series contains publications related to Muriel Manings, William Korff, New Dance Group and associated artists, and other performing arts events or individuals. The Clippings subseries encompasses reviews, features, and other writings in magazines or newspapers contemporaneous to the individual or dance-related activities. Longer, more formal essays, research, and newsletters are assembled in the Articles subseries.
The Subject Files series contains information Manings gathered or retained on specific subjects or names, both individuals and organizations. Of particular interest is the group of articles written by and about Pearl Primus and the set of records regarding the American Dance Guild's preparations for the New Dance Group gala. The Jane Dudley subject file includes production elements related to her dance Proverbs, to which William Korff contributed design expertise.