The RAD receives a grant for cataloguing the Kenneth MacMillan Archive
The Royal Academy of Dance is to receive a cataloguing grant from the Archives Revealed partnership programme, made up of The National Archives, The National Lottery Heritage Fund, the Wolfson Foundation, and the Pilgrim Trust.
The grant will support us with cataloguing the Kenneth MacMillan Archive, which was generously donated to the RAD by Deborah, Lady MacMillan last year.
Sir Kenneth MacMillan (1929-1992) was the leading choreographer of his generation, creating world-renowned ballets including Romeo and Juliet, Gloria, Manon and Mayerling. The archive – which includes photographs, diaries, and letters – paints a rich picture of MacMillan’s life covering his personal, artistic and business contributions to ballet throughout the 20th century. Following the cataloguing project, we will celebrate MacMillan’s significant achievements and provide opportunities for engagement with the collection through displays and events.
RAD’s Artistic Director, Alexander Campbell said: “As a huge personal fan of Sir Kenneth MacMillan’s work, I am delighted that the RAD has received this Archives Revealed Cataloguing Grant. A visionary choreographer who challenged the status quo and shaped our understanding of what ballet is and can be, the opportunity to gain further understanding about Sir Kenneth and his process is a gift to all. This is a hugely important historic collection, and we look forward to sharing it with the world.”
Containing over 75,000 items spanning 100 years, the RAD Archive, based at RAD’s Wolfson Library at its headquarters in London, is an important record of the evolution of British ballet and dance in the 20th century; from materials relating to the development of dance teaching, a photographic archive capturing the 1940s-1980s British ballet scene, through to special collections of ballet trailblazers.
For more information visit the RAD’s Wolfson Library page.
Photo: Sir Kenneth MacMillan and Sonya Hana, © Paul Wilson.
