Charles Girvin Papers

Title: Charles Girvin Papers

Dates: 1950s-1980s

Collection Number: 992.039

Creator/Collector: Girvin, Charles

Extent: 2 Boxes. 0.75 linear feet.

Repository: Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts Library

Abstract: Charles Girvin, born in 1935, was a ballet dancer with the New York City Ballet, the American Ballet Theatre at the Phoenix Theatre, and with the School of American Ballet at Carnegie Hall. He studied at the School of American Ballet and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo School under various renowned ballet dancers. In 1973, he began teaching for the Sacramento Ballet Company, and in 1975, he began working as a self-employed teacher for companies such as Menlo Park Academy of Dance; Dancer's Theatre, Berkeley; East Bay Ballet Theatre, Albany; Academy of Ballet, San Francisco; U.C. Berkeley Dance Department; Shawl/Anderson Dance Center; Classical Ballet Center of Berkeley; and Dimensions Dance Theatre, Oakland. This collection documents his career, primarily focusing on his role as a ballet instructor. Materials included are resumes, photos, awards, sketches, programs, flyers, correspondence, scrapbooks, news clippings, and notebooks.

Language of Material: English

Entire Collection is open for research.

Reproduction of these materials can occur only if the copying falls within the provisions of the doctrine of fair use. Copyright varies by item.

[Identification of item]. Charles Girvin Papers. Collection Number: 992.039. Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts Library

The Charles Girvin Papers were donated to S.F. PALM in April l992 by Girvin's mother.

Charles Frederick Girvin was a ballet dancer born in 1935. He received instruction from Dean Crockett, a former pupil of Michael Fokine, Michael Mordkin, and Adolph Bolm. Girvin also studied at the School of American Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine. Among his instructors numbered Anatole Oboukhoff and Pierre Vladimiroff, graduates of the Imperial Ballet School; Antonina Tumkovsky, former dancer with the Kirov and Bolshoi Theatres; Felia Doubvrovska, a soloist with the Maryinsky Theatre and Diaghilev Ballet; Muriel Stuart, who studied with Pavlova and Cecchetti; and Yurek Lazowski, a specialist in character dancing. Girvin made his professional debut with the New York City Ballet, partnering Maria Tallchief in The Firebird. Other appearances included performances with the American Ballet Theatre at the Phoenix Theatre and with the School of American Ballet at Carnegie Hall. Girvin continued his studies with classes with Maria Swoboda, Edward Caton, Mia Slavenska, Frederick Franklin, and Leon Danielian at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo School and with Robert Joffrey, Anatole Vilzak, and Valentina Pereyslavec at the American Ballet Theatre School. In 1957, Girvin retired from professional ballet dancing and joined the U.S. Coast Guard. Between 1957 and 1961, when he received an honorable discharge, Girvin served as a Second Class Petty Officer in the Naval Engineering Department. Girvin moved back to California in 1961 and began working for O.N.C. Motor Freight Systems. Between 1963 and 1973, Girvin worked as a Claims Investigator for Pacific Intermountain Express Co. Girvin returned to dance in 1973, when he began teaching for the Sacramento Ballet Company. Between 1975 and 1980, Girvin worked as a self-employed dance teacher in cooperation with the following Bay Area companies: 1975-76 Menlo Park Academy of Dance; 1976 Dancer's Theatre, Berkeley; 1977-78 East Bay Ballet Theatre, Albany; 1977-78 Academy of Ballet, San Francisco; 1978 U.C. Berkeley Dance Department; 1978-79 Shawl/Anderson Dance Center; 1979-80 Classical Ballet Center of Berkeley; 1978-80 Dimensions Dance Theatre, Oakland. In 1980, Girvin returned to working as a Claims Manager for System 99 Trucking Co. in Oakland.

The Charles Girvin Papers document the professional ballet career and teaching activities of Charles Girvin. It encompasses biographical materials in the form of resumes, photos, and awards and materials relating to his affiliations with various ballet schools in the Bay Area. Although the bulk of this collection covers Girvin's role as a ballet instructor, a few files reveal aspects of his early years as a professional ballet dancer. Girvin's early training in Sacramento is documented in photographs from performances. His later training in New York is listed in resumes and biographical sketches. The collection does not contain any information about his professional appearances in New York between 1953 and 1957. Girvin's contributions as a ballet teacher are most thoroughly documented in programs and flyers from dance companies or schools and in letters of appreciation received from students. The collection includes both loose programs and correspondence and materials which have been assembled into scrapbooks. Another important part of the collection which reveals Girvin's teaching methods are a series of dance class notebooks compiled by Girvin while attending workshops at various dance companies. These include notes on Girvin's classes in the 1950s at the School of American Ballet, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; and the Ballet Theatre School; notes on teachers' courses at the Royal Academy of Dance and the Cecchetti Society; and notes for courses he taught in Sacramento. The notebooks contain lists of exercises performed in classes, including warm-ups at the barre and floor routines; impressions of different teaching styles; and observations about performances. News clippings and photos provide additional information about Girvin's approach to teaching ballet.