MS-252 Stuart Sebastian Papers

Access and Provenance

Series Listing

Brief Biographical Sketch

Stuart began studying dance in 1957 with Dayton Ballet founders Josephine and Hermene Schwartz at the Schwartz School of Dance, and joined the Dayton Civic Ballet as a trainee at age 12 in 1962. The next year, after auditioning for New York City Ballet founder and choreographer, George Balanchine, he was selected in a highly competitive national program for a Ford Foundation scholarship.

At 14, Sebastian choreographed his first ballet for the Dayton Civic Ballet,Birthday of the Infanta. The following year he had his first paid dancing position with the Cincinnati Summer Opera. After graduation from Colonel White High School, he joined the Harkness Youth Ballet in New York and toured Europe with the Harkness Ballet.

Sebastian then became a principal dancer with the National Ballet of Washington, D.C. where he partnered Margot Fonteyn when she performed as a guest artist with the company. He also attended American University and graduated with magna cum laude honors.

In 1974, he choreographed a work for the Dayton Ballet entitled Willoughby, which captured the attention of Joffrey Ballet director, Robert Joffrey and the Metropolitan Opera's, Anthony Bliss. Sebastian then embarked on a career as a free-lance choreographer, working in the U.S., England, and Germany.

In 1980, he returned to the Dayton Ballet as director and choreographer, quickly making his mark by bringing in new dancers, creating the company's first full-length ballet (Sleeping Beauty) and leading the company to New York for a warmly received series of performances there.

In 1990, he began a new association as house choreographer with the Royal Ballet of Flanders, where his Camelot was well received, and he announced he would be stepping down after 10 years with the Dayton Ballet.

Stuart Sebastian eventually choreographed over 25 ballets, including six full-length works. He died on January 16, 1991, at the age of 40.

Scope and Content

Series II contains miscellaneous administrative records for the Dayton Ballet Company. Of note in this series are several artistic and philosophy statement: the DBC Five-year Plan, the Touring rationale file, the Two-year Artistic Plan contained in the New Works Budget file, the Report to the DBC Board, and the handwritten outline of Stuart's teaching philosophy contained in the DBC Administrative Records file. There are copies of Stuart's evaluations of individual dancers in the DBC Administrative Records file. This series also contains several long range planning reports, including one from William H. Inglis, an independent consultant. Records also show the merger of the Dayton Ballet School with the Jon Rodriquez Ballet School. There is a file of press releases and another of miscellaneous DBC correspondence. The files of this series are arranged alphabetically by subject or file title. Span dates are 1967-1990.

Series III consists of performance records of the DBC with Sebastian as Choreographer and Artistic Director. It also contains records of his work as an independent/visiting choreographer. These records are broken down into five subseries as follows: 1: Dayton Ballet Company 2: Dayton Ballet Touring Company 3: Ballet Festivals, and 4: Antwerp/Camelot performance. The files of this series contains press releases, programs, correspondence, clippings, stage notes and designs, costume charts, itineraries, and schedules pertaining to performances. Span dates are 1968- 1989.

Series IV contains materials pertaining to Sebastian's teaching activities. Included are lecture notes, invitations, itineraries, and correspondence. Papers in this series demonstrate the range of Sebastian's audiences and students, from high school dancers to professionals. Span dates are 1980-1989.

Photographs, Series V, contains mostly black and white photographic prints, although there are also a fair amount of color 35mm snapshots. A large number of the images are either publicity or performance photographs of Stuart. There are also photographs taken by Sebastian in conjunction with a photography class he took while attending American University. The photographs in the series are only partially labeled and identified on the back by Stuart. The series also contains some color slides and 35mm proof sheets. Photographs date from ca 1973 until the late 1980's.

The newspaper clippings in Series VI are mostly reviews of performances in which Sebastian either danced, directed, or choreographed. Also included are feature articles about Stuart and his career and general feature articles about the Dayton Ballet Company. The majority of the clippings are from local Dayton papers, and many contain only a single reference to Sebastian. Span dates are 1966-1990.

Series VII, Personal, includes a selection of Stuart's creative writing efforts, and autobiography written for a class assignment, passports, high school diploma, birth certificate, and a program from his ten-year high school reunion. Last in this series are materials from a few courses taken at American University, a paper on a dinner with philosopher Mortimer Adler, and a play by Sam Shepherd. Span dates are 1950-1989.

The miscellaneous correspondence in Series VIII contains letters and cards from various friends and associates in the dance world. Subjects range from personal life to professional dealings to politics. Span dates are 1982-1986.

Series IX, Oversized Materials, includes Sebastian's diploma from American University, ballet posters and programs, costume drawings, oversized photographs, and prints.

Series X, Computer File Printouts, is a hard copy of Sebastian's files from his personal computer. It is a mass of unorganized material which has been arranged by the archivist into chronological order. Information in these printouts include Ballet annual reports, budget and expense reports, rehearsal schedules, program notes, and correspondence, both personal and professional. Span dates are 1984-1990.

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