Guide to the Papers of Michelle Potter, 1934-2016

Summary

Collection number:

MS Acc10.084, MS Acc16.031, MS Acc17.056

Creator:

Potter, Michelle, Dr, AM (1944-)

Extent:

(14 ms boxes + 7 folders + 3 digital carriers)

Language:

English and English

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Michelle Potter, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.

Availability:

Available

Access conditions:

Available for research. Not for loan.

Background

Content Summary:

The MS Acc10.084 consignment includes reports, correspondence, articles, promotional material, photographs and notes relating to various National Library of Australia dance projects, including the Esso Performing Arts and Oral History Archive project, Keep Dancing!, Australia Dancing, the Dance People Dance exhibition and the Ballets Russes in Australia project; correspondence, reports, lectures and addresses from Dr Potter's time as Curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library; correspondence and other documentation relating to the Khmer Dance project; material relating to Dancing Across Borders - a film by Anne Bass (2010), including early drafts of scripts; personal correspondence with Anna Volkova Barnes, Alan Brissenden, Lisa Bolte, Meg Denton, Tamara Tchinarova Finch, Maina Gielgud, Geoffrey Ingram, Regis Lansac, Monica Moseley, Meryl Tankard, Valrene Tweedie and others; publications by Dr Potter including A Passion for Dance (1997) and A Collector's Book of Australian Dance (2002); and other papers, including material relating to the Australian Dance Awards, 2003.

The MS Acc16.031 consignment features Michelle Potter's scrapbook album, containing memorabilia, certificates and programs from her theatrical and dance activities during the late 1950s. There is also a small autograph book featuring images of members of the Borovansky Ballet, including Marilyn Jones and Edouard Borovansky; members of the Royal Ballet on tour in Australia in 1958, including Ninette de Valois and principal dancers Svetlana Beriosova and Bryan Ashbridge; and members of the John Alden Shakespeare Company, including John Alden and Elaine Montgomerie. The certificates received by Dr Potter are for examinations with the Royal Academy of Dancing and the Alliance Française. Programs included are from the Michelle Charleston School of Classical Ballet and Fort Street Girls High School Annual Speech Day.

The MS Acc17.056 consignment contains research material relating to the writing and publication of two biographies: Meryl Tankard: an original voice (2012) and Dame Maggie Scott: a life in dance (2014). Papers include correspondence, research materials (clippings, programs, notebooks, and other items), annotated manuscripts (including editorial queries), and research material relating to the publication of an extended article on the Dandre-Levitoff Russian Ballet tour to Australia, 1934-1935, published in Dance Research. The collection also includes archival material from Anna Northcote, one of the dancers who toured, and photographs of the tour (as digital images on a disc).

Biographical Note:

Dancer, dance writer and curator, oral history interviewer. Michelle Potter was born in Sydney and learnt to dance with Joan and Monica Halliday, Ronne Arnold and Valrene Tweedie. She began her professional career in 1959 and in the mid-1960s worked with Tweedie's choreographic ensemble, Ballet Australia. In the 1970s and 1980s she taught for Janet Karin and Bryan Lawrence at the National Capital Ballet School in Canberra, and choreographed and appeared in numerous productions. In the 1980s she completed a doctorate in art history and dance history at the Australian National University.

Between 1988 and 1990 Dr Potter was the National Library of Australia's Esso Fellow in the Performing Arts, and, in 1996 curated a national touring exhibition, Dance People Dance for the Library. From 1997-2001 she managed the Keep Dancing! project at ScreenSound Australia. Her articles and reviews have appeared in many journals and newspapers. In 1994, she founded Brolga: an Australian journal about dance. She was appointed inaugural Curator of Dance at the National Library of Australia in 2002, and in 2006 became Curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center. Dr Potter received an award for services to dance at the 2003 Australian Dance Awards.

Collection Retrieval Advice:

Please note: each class in this collection has a separate box number sequence (i.e. there are multiple Box 1's). Please cite the relevant Class number as well as the Box number when requesting retrieval of material from the collection.

Reading Room Access Note:

For preservation reasons, we are unable to deliver digital and audiovisual carriers to the Special Collections Reading Room. Please contact (Ask a Librarian) to enquire about access.

Indexed terms

Subjects:

Performing arts
Society and culture

Conditions Governing Access:

Access conditions may apply to this collection, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn5152318).

Conditions Governing Use:

Conditions for copying and publishing of this collection may apply, please refer to the collection's catalogue record for further information (http://nla.gov.au/nla.cat-vn5152318).

Preferred citation:

Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Michelle Potter, National Library of Australia, [class/series/file/item number(s)]'.

Location of this collection:

National Library of Australia

Parkes Place

Canberra ACT 2600, Australia

Contact:

Contact us