Remy Charlip papers

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Description: Remy Charlip (1929-2012) was an American dancer, choreographer, theater director, costume and set designer, educator, visual artist, and children's book author and illustrator. The Remy Charlip papers, dating from the 1900s to 2016 (bulk dates 1940s-2016), chronicle his multi-faceted career and personal life with subject files, original choreography drawings, costumes, children's book illustrations, professional writings, notebooks and journals, artwork and poster designs, teaching materials, photographs, press clippings, programs, correspondence, and audio and moving image recordings.
Names: Charlip, Remy (Creator)
Dates / Origin: Date Created: 1900 - 2016
Library locations: Jerome Robbins Dance Division; Shelf locator: *MGZMD 536
Topics: Harrison, Lou, 1917-2003; Hoving, Lucas; Marcus, Neil; Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Paper Bag Players; Authors; dancers; illustrators; Teachers; Theatrical directors; Choreographers -- United States -- 20th century; Dance teachers; Gay artists -- United States; Illustrated children's books; Male dancers -- United States -- 20th century
Genres: Contracts; Dance programs; Drawings; Notebooks; Correspondence; Photographs; Sound recordings; Video recordings
Notes: Biographical/historical: Remy Charlip was born on January 10, 1929 in Brooklyn, New York to Lithuanian Jewish parents. He enjoyed drawing as a child, and after attending Straubenmuller Textile High School, enrolled at The Cooper Union, receiving a fine arts degree in 1949. Charlip subsequently decided to become a dancer. He studied under choreographer Bonnie Bird at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, where he also met his longtime friend, composer Lou Harrison. In 1950, Charlip returned to New York and took classes with the New Dance Group at the Juilliard School. At Harrison's encouragement, Charlip began attending Black Mountain College in North Carolina in 1951. It was there that he met dancer and choreographer Merce Cunningham; Charlip was a founding member of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company, working as a dancer from its inception in 1953 to 1961. He also designed costumes, fliers, and posters for the company. While at Black Mountain College, Charlip met and occasionally collaborated with such artists as John Cage, Morton Feldman, Ray Johnson, and Jacob Lawrence. Charlip performed with and choreographed for other avant-garde theater groups during the 1950s to the 1960s, notably the Living Theater and Judson Dance Theater. He designed sets and costumes and choreographed shows at The Joyce Theatre, Dance Theatre Workshop, and Cherry Lane Theatre, working with Jean Erdman, Katherine Litz, and Sabina Nordoff, among others. In 1958, Charlip co-founded the Paper Bag Players, a theater company of adults inspired by New York's avant-garde scene that performs for children. During the early to mid-1970s, Charlip directed plays for the National Theater of the Deaf Company and held residencies with the Scottish Theatre Ballet Company, Welsh Dance Theatre, The Dance Company (NSW [New South Wales]), and Taller de Danza de Caracas. Additionally, he choreographed for the Joffrey Ballet, London Contemporary Dance Theatre, Metro Theatre Circus, Brooklyn Academy of Music, and numerous educational institutions, such as Mills College and Stanford University. In 1970, Charlip staged and performed in Robert Rauschenberg's Experiments in Art and Technology at the Japan World Exposition in Osaka. In 1971, Charlip invented a new form of choreography. While in Paris, he was late in choreographing a dance for his friend, Nancy Lewis, and sent her a series of postcards with drawings of human figures in various positions. Charlip told Lewis that she could dance the drawings in any order she wished. "Instructions from Paris" was the first of many Air Mail Dances, as Charlip called them; he subsequently created and sent hundreds of Air Mail Dances to soloists and dance companies around the world, who in turn become co-creators for each piece when they interpret Charlip's choreography. Air Mail Dances continue to be performed internationally. Another of Charlip's best-known works is Remy Charlip Dances, a series of mostly solo pieces that premiered on the Frames of Reference program on WGBH-TV Boston in 1977. The series included a biographical dance, "Glow Worm," based on Charlip's childhood. He performed Remy Charlip Dances around the country with his group, the International All-Star Dance Company, through the 1980s to critical acclaim. Other notable works include Ten Imaginary Dances; Amaterasu, a theater piece performed at the Museum of Contemporary Arts, Los Angeles in 1988; and "Meditation," a solo dance. During the 1980s and 1990s, Charlip collaborated with such dancers as Lucas Hoving, Neil Marcus, and June Watanabe. Throughout his career, Charlip was an instructor to people of all ages. He primarily taught dance, often incorporating healing modalities such as the Alexander Technique. Charlip taught choreography at the New School for Social Research from 1967 to 1969, and founded the children's theater program at Sarah Lawrence College, where he taught from 1967 to 1971. Charlip was a visiting lecturer or fellow at Yale University (1968-1969), Bennington College (1976), Harvard University (1982), University of California, Santa Barbara (1989), and Hofstra University (1991). He conducted many creativity and dance workshops for adults and children across the United States. Charlip also contributed to the international dance journal, Contact Quarterly. In addition to careers in dance, theater, and education, Charlip was a prolific children's book author and illustrator. He began illustrating dust jackets and book interiors while at Black Mountain College, including those by Margaret Wise Brown, Ruth Krauss, and Betty Miles. Charlip's first children's book that he wrote and illustrated, Dress Up and Let's Have a Party, was published by Young Scott Books in 1956. He went on to write and/or illustrate more than twenty-five books, notably Where is Everybody? (1957), Fortunately (1964), Arm in Arm (1969), Harlequin and the Gift of Many Colors (1973), Thirteen (1975), Handtalk Birthday (1987), Sleepytime Rhyme (1999), and A Perfect Day (2006). Charlip's books utilize different art styles, structures, and writing forms, and many have been translated into other languages. In 1989, Charlip moved from New York to San Francisco, California, where he lived for the rest of his life. He continued to choreograph dances; his production Ludwig and Lou, a tribute to Lou Harrison, was performed by the Oakland Ballet in 1994, and he was a featured choreographer at the 2001 San Francisco Lesbian and Gay Dance Festival. Charlip also mentored students at the San Francisco Arts Education Project. In 1999, the San Francisco Public Library hosted Remy Charlip's World: Books into Theater/Theater into Books, a commemorative exhibition. Charlip received many awards, honors, and grants for his dance and theater work, as well as for his books. He won four Isadora Duncan Awards and two Obie Awards. He received a three-year choreography grant from the National Endowment for the Arts; a dance fellowship from the Japan-United States Friendship Commission; an Asian Cultural Council fellowship to study mythology and folklore in Japan for children's books and dances; and a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation fellowship. In 1997, the Library of Congress hosted A Celebration of Remy Charlip, an exhibition of paintings from Arm in Arm that also featured Charlip in performance. For his children's books, Charlip won The New York Times "Best Illustrated Children's Book" award three times. Charlip suffered a stroke in 2005 shortly after receiving his Guggenheim fellowship. Despite never completely recovering, he continued to draw, design, and publish books. He also served as a model for illustrations of George Méliès in Brian Selznick's 2007 book, The Invention of Hugo Cabret. Remy Charlip died on August 14, 2012 in San Francisco.; Content: The Remy Charlip papers, dating from the 1900s to 2016 (bulk dates 1940s-2016), emphasize Charlip's wide-ranging creative output as a dancer, choreographer, costume designer, visual artist, writer, and children's book author and illustrator. The collection features his extensive notes about dance and theater projects, hundreds of choreography drawings and associated dance artwork, as well as costumes he designed for performances. Charlip's original illustrations for children's books are present, along with both published and unpublished writings on a variety of subjects. The collection also holds administrative files related to Charlip's dance and publishing activities, teaching materials, photographs, press clippings and programs, personal files, and correspondence. Audio and moving image recordings, numbering in the hundreds, relate mostly to Charlip's dance and theater projects. Original folders and folder titles, many of which are in Charlip's hand, are maintained whenever possible.
Physical Description: Extent: 54.44 linear feet (125 boxes, 32 oversize folders, 5 tubes)
Type of Resource: Text; Still image
Identifiers: Other local Identifier: (S) *MGZMD 536; NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b23303853; MSS Unit ID: 184507; Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 3939b350-af77-013d-185a-0242ac110002

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Remy Charlip papers

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