The Gala Performance to Save the Dance Collection photographs by photographer Fred Fehl document a benefit fundraiser performed to ensure the preservation and maintenance of the dance collection held at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Dance world icons such as George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Alvin Ailey, Margot Fonteyn, and Peter Martins were among the event contributors.
Biographical/historical: Photographer Fred Fehl (1906-1995) was born and educated in Vienna and settled in New York in 1939 after fleeing from Nazi occupied territory Austria in 1938. Early in his career he worked as a children's photographer to support himself while he pursued his true passion of documenting theater and stage productions. Since his arrival in the United States, Fehl avidly documented the performing arts and devoted his life to capturing the ephemeral nature of dance and theater. He became known as a pioneer in the taking of candid photographs during performances through the use of existing stage lighting, and has documented many productions from Broadway, the New York City Opera and Ballet, and American Ballet Theater, as well as unique performances which would otherwise have been visually lost. Fehl made his career as a performance photographer, covering theater, dance, opera, and music for more than forty years. He published several books of his photography, including Stars of the Ballet and Dance in Performance Photographs (1984) and At New York City Ballet (1991).
Content: The Gala Performance to Save the Dance Collection photographs consists of approximately 115 black and white 5" x 7" photographs of the performances taken during the evening of January 24, 1972 by photographer Fred Fehl. The photographs are arranged chronologically in the order in which the pieces were performed during the event. The gala was held as a benefit fundraiser at the City Center of Music and Drama to ensure the preservation and maintenance of the dance collection held at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts located in Lincoln Center. Dance companies that participated during the event such as the New York City Ballet, the American Ballet, Theatre, and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater all contributed various works to event-goers. Works choreographed by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Butler among others were included as part of the night's repertoire. Notable names in the dance world such as Merce Cunningham, Margot Fonteyn, and Judith Jamison were also photographed during the event.
