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Items Costume worn by Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) in Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides

Costume worn by Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) in Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides

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Library division & collection with this item:

LIBRARY DIVISION
Jerome Robbins Dance Division

  • Choregraphie
  • A long minuet as danced at Bath
  • Sketchbook
  • Sarah Bernhardt's farewell American tour
  • Scrapbook documenting the appearances of dancer Alice Eis and her partner Bert French
  • The dance score
  • Traité élémentaire, théorique et pratique de l'art de la danse
  • Sketchbook
  • Coreografie per ballabili d'opera
  • Caricature of Sergeĭ Dyagilev
  • La sténochorégraphie
  • Ehon Tsūhōshi
  • Le maître a danser
  • America
  • Costume designs for the ballet La Pastorella Svizzera
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COLLECTION
Ruth Ann Koesun collection

SUB-COLLECTION
Costumes and Accessories

This Item

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Title
Costume worn by Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) in Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides
Additional title: Costume for the Sylph from Les Sylphides
Names
Koesun, Ruth Ann (Associated name)
Ballard, Lucinda (Costume designer)
Collection

Ruth Ann Koesun collection

Costumes and Accessories

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1953 (Approximate)
Library locations
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Shelf locator: (S) *MGZMD 562
Topics
Sylphides (Choreographic work : Fokin)
Genres
Costumes
tutus
Notes
Biographical/historical: Ruth Ann Koesun was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1928. Her father, Paul Koesun was a well-known doctor in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood. Koesun's mother, Mary Mondulick Koesun, was a nurse and later a housewife. Koesun's mixed background was often noted in the press, her father was Chinese-American, and her mother was of Russian descent. At six, Koesun began training with Edna Lucille Baum, who specialized in teaching young ballet dancers. Baum later encouraged Koesun to advance her technique at the Stone-Camryn School of Chicago, and to spend summers in New York City studying with ballet teachers Maria Swoboda and her husband, Vecheslav Swoboda. In 1946, Koesun joined the Ballet Theatre (later known as American Ballet Theatre) and was paired with John Kriza, a fellow Stone-Camryn alumnus based in Illinois. When the couple wasn't touring with the Ballet Theatre, they often danced together in Chicago nightclubs and Summer Stock performances. Kriza and Koesun became the signature dancers in the Ballet Theatre's revival of Eugene Loring's Billy The Kid. The pair were closely identified with their Billy The Kid roles, and they performed the ballet with the rest of the company at the White House for President John F. Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy in 1962. Koesun danced in other prominent roles including the Bluebird pas de deux from The Sleeping Beauty. She would partner with several notable ballet dancers, including Erik Bruhn, Nora Kaye, Maria Tallchief, and Violette Verdy. In the 1950s, Koesun often partnered with Eric Braun, another principal dancer with the Ballet Theatre. The two were married in 1947, but divorced after eight years. Koesun and the Ballet Theatre toured worldwide. In the summer of 1946, they were the first American ballet company to perform in London after World War II. In September of 1955, the company was on a South American tour during the Revolución Libertadora (Liberating Revolution), the coup that ended the second term of Argentina's president, Juan Perón. After spending six days locked down in the Claridge Hotel in Buenos Aires, the company continued its production under the new administration. After retiring from the American Ballet Theatre in 1969, Koesun returned to Chicago, where she served as the co-director of the dance department at the Hull House Association from 1969 until 1972. Koesun also worked in the archives of the Newberry Library starting in 1998, and began serving as the Assistant Director of the Chamber Opera of Chicago in 2005. Koesun remained involved in the dance world until she died in 2018.
Physical Description
Tulle (meshed textile)
Wire
Cotton
Extent: 1 tutu : Tulle, wire, and cotton ; 43 cm long total, Bodice waist 22 1/4 inches, Bust 30 3/4 inches, front length 10 1/2 inches, Skirt length: 30 inches approximately, Wings: 7 inches high
Extent: Box: 9 x 37 x 25 inches
Type of Resource
Three dimensional object
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b22980846
MSS Unit ID: 186173
Archives EAD ID: 3405649
NYPL Exhibition ID: TL 20.01.PERF67
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): d2336630-03d8-013d-847c-0242ac110002
Rights Statement
The New York Public Library holds or manages the copyright(s) in this item. If you need information about reusing this item, please go to: http://nypl.org/permissions

Item timeline of events

  • 1953: Created
  • 2024: Digitized
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Costume worn by Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) in Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1953. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c5196900-03da-013d-b2c2-0242ac110003

Chicago/Turabian Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Costume worn by Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) in Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed December 9, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c5196900-03da-013d-b2c2-0242ac110003

APA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. (1953). Costume worn by Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) in Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c5196900-03da-013d-b2c2-0242ac110003

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/c5196900-03da-013d-b2c2-0242ac110003 | title= (three dimensional object) Costume worn by Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) in Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides, (1953)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=December 9, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Costume worn by Ruth Ann Koesun (1928-2018) in Mikhail Fokine’s Les Sylphides