Additional Physical Form: For transcript of interview see: *MGZMT 3-986.
Source Characteristics: Sound quality is fair. The recording is marred by "tape hiss" as well as occasional extraneous noise and short gaps. While the voices of Nancy Reynolds and Richard Ellis are easily intelligible, at times Christine Du Boulay's voice is soft and difficult to understand.
Venue: Recorded by Nancy Reynolds for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jerome Robbins Dance Division Oral History Project July 20 and 27,1976 Chicago (Ill.).
Funding: The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the Barbara Goldsmith Conservation Division of the New York Public Library as well as the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.

Physical Description

Extent: 2 audiocassettes (approximately 2 hr., 55 min.) ; polyester; quarter-track

Abstract

Streaming file 1, July 20, 1976 (approximately 47 minutes). Richard Ellis and his wife Christine Du Boulay speak with Nancy Reynolds about how they first came to Chicago and opened a dance studio; Ellis speaks about his early dance training and performances; joining the Sadler's Wells Ballet [later the Royal Ballet]; some of the dancers and companies active in the early days of his career, including the Camargo Society, Ballet Club, and Frederick Ashton; Lilian Baylis, in particular as a manager, and Ninette de Valois; Margaret Craske; [Nikolaĭ Grigorʹevich] Sergeev; Du Boulay speaks about her early ballet training; Ellis and Du Boulay speak about other ballet companies active at the time; Ellis's friendship with Frederic Franklin; Alicia Markova including an anecdote about Markova and De Valois; Robert Helpmann; Margot Fonteyn; Pearl Argyle; Ashton's work Pomona; more on De Valois; Antony Tudor; the reviving of Ashton's Façade including an anecdote about Marie Rambert. Streaming file 2, July 20, 1976 (approximately 46 minutes). Richard Ellis and Christine Du Boulay speak with Nancy Reynolds about touring with Sadler's Wells Ballet in the Netherlands in 1940; Frederick Ashton's work Dante sonata; Ninette de Valois's ballet Job; Ashton's Wedding bouquet including Gertrude Stein's attending of rehearsals; Sophie Fedorovitch; De Valois's The rake's progress; Ellis speaks about serving in the Royal Navy during World War II including how he managed to continue his ballet dancing; Moira Shearer; Du Boulay speaks about the International Ballet and Mona Inglesby. Streaming file 3, July 27, 1976 (approximately 46 minutes). Richard Ellis and Christine Du Boulay speak with Nancy Reynolds about Ninette de Valois's ballet Prospect before us; Robert Helpmann and some of the ballets he choreographed including Hamlet; Vera Volkova; Rudolf Nureyev, as a dancer; Frederick Ashton's Symphonic variations; working with Leonide Massine including in the ballets Mam'zelle Angot [Mademoiselle Angot] and the Clock symphony; the Sadler's Wells Ballet's New York debut including Margot Fonteyn's acclaimed performance as Aurora. Streaming file 4, July 27, 1976 (approximately 45 minutes). Richard Ellis and Christine Du Boulay speak with Nancy Reynolds about Moira Shearer; Margot Fonteyn including as a person; discussion of various dancers including Mikhail Baryshnikov and Gelsey Kirkland; Frederick Ashton's Cinderella; Frederick Ashton's Don Juan; Ninette de Valois's Checkmate; George Balanchine's Ballet imperial; Ashton's Daphnis and Chloe; his Enigma variations; their own, briefly-lived company in Chicago.

Languages

English

Identifiers

RLIN/OCLC: 79050007
NYPL Catalog ID (bnumber): b12118875
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): d55b6930-b310-0133-a298-3c07547a230f

Rights

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

Type Of Resource

Sound Recording

Cite this item

MLA format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Interview with Richard Ellis and Christine Du Boulay, 1976" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1976 - 1976. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d55b6930-b310-0133-a298-3c07547a230f

APA format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. (1976 - 1976). Interview with Richard Ellis and Christine Du Boulay, 1976 Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d55b6930-b310-0133-a298-3c07547a230f

Chicago/Turabian Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Interview with Richard Ellis and Christine Du Boulay, 1976" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed December 5, 2025. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d55b6930-b310-0133-a298-3c07547a230f

Wikipedia citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/d55b6930-b310-0133-a298-3c07547a230f | title= (sound recording) Interview with Richard Ellis and Christine Du Boulay, 1976 (1976 - 1976) | author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library | accessdate=December 5, 2025 | publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>