Jones, Alun, 1937-2019 Papers, 1975-2017
Held by The Filson Historical Society
Creator: Jones, Alun, 1937-2019
Title: Papers, 1975-2017
Rights: For information regarding literary and copyright interest for these papers, contact the Collections Department.
Size of Collection: 1.37 cu. ft. and 1 ovsz. folder
Location Number: Mss. A J76b
Scope and Content Note
This collection consists of material related to the life and career of Alun Jones, artistic director of the Louisville Ballet from 1978 to 2002.
Material about Jones’s personal life includes correspondence regarding his 1984 forced leave of absence and his 1998 Governor’s Milner Award, recommendation letters written to the Louisville Ballet on his behalf, and his application for permanent U.S. Resident status.
Institutional material from the Louisville Ballet is also included. These records consist of business/financial correspondence, production correspondence, a 1993 Personnel Handbook, job descriptions, agreements/contracts with artists and contractors, production and rehearsal schedules, board of directors’ minutes, financial material, fact sheets and histories, press releases, publications, performance programs, and mailers and fliers.
The collection also includes two awards honoring Helen Starr, principal dancer, associate artistic director, and repetiteur for the Louisville Ballet. Some correspondence is also addressed to both Jones and Starr.
Folders 1-33 contain correspondence, most to or from Jones.
Folders 34-46 contain miscellaneous material related to Jones’s life and the Louisville Ballet.
Folders 47-75 contain programs, magazines, and other publications related to the Louisville Ballet.
Folders 76-90 contain newspaper clippings related to the Louisville Ballet.
Oversized folder 91 contains awards and certificates honoring Helen Starr.
Related Collections:
Louisville Ballet records [Mss. BB L888j]
Louisville Ballet Photograph Collection [024PC25]
Louisville Ballet Posters [024PR3]
Alun Jones and Helen Starr Photograph Collection [023PC24]
Jones, Alun and Helen Starr Louisville Ballet Poster Collection [023PR5]
Alun Jones and Helen Starr museum objects [2023.5]
Vincent Falardo papers [023×29]
Vincent Falardo Photograph Collection [023PC11]
Vincent Falardo museum objects [2023.18]
Joy Bell Williams papers [023×1]
Joy Bell Williams Photograph Collection [023PC4]
Nina Allen papers [024×35]
Melissa J. “Misty” Lee papers [023×57]
Biographical Note
Alun Jones
Alun Jones was born on 8 April 1937 in southern Wales, where he studied music in his early life. He obtained a degree in design from Monmouthshire College of Arts in Wales and received his formal training at the Rambert School of Ballet in London. He danced with the Welsh National Opera, London’s Festival Ballet, and Zurich Opera Ballet. He became a founding member of the New London Ballet and toured as technical director and stage manager.
In 1975, Jones and his wife, ballet dancer and instructor Helen Starr, came to Louisville to help found the Academy of the Louisville Ballet with dancers Richard Munro and Christina Stirling. Jones served as associate director of the Academy. In 1978, he became the Louisville Ballet’s artistic director, a position he held for twenty-four years until his retirement in 2002.
During his tenure, the Louisville Ballet presented seventy-eight world premieres and sixty-five Louisville premieres. Jones’s productions included Romeo and Juliet, Cinderella, Peter Pan, The Merry Widow, and Lucy, many of which have been performed across the U.S. and in other countries including Bermuda, England, Portugal, Spain, India, South Africa, Hong Kong, and Japan.
Throughout his career, Jones not only produced, directed, and choreographed ballets and operas but also designed scenery and costumes and even danced character roles, including as one of the ugly stepsisters in a Louisville Ballet production of Cinderella.
Jones arranged for Mikhail Baryshnikov to perform with the Louisville Ballet in 1978 and 1979. He also evaluated dance companies for the National Endowment for the Arts, served as a juror for the European Stage Dance Union contest in Croatia, was a member of the International Dance Council in Greece, and was involved in many other regional, national, and international arts initiatives. In 1998, he received the Governor’s Milner Award for contributions to the arts through the Kentucky Arts Council, and in 2002 he received the Louisville Forum’s Fleur-de-Lis Award.
Jones and Starr had two children, Hannah Elizabeth Thomas (1972-) and Gareth Thomas Jones (1975-).
Helen Starr
Helen Marguerite Starr was born on 19 May 1940 in Kent, England. She received her formal training at the Royal Academy of Dance and the Royal Ballet School in London, after which she joined the Royal Ballet Company and toured the world as a soloist and assistant ballet mistress. She later joined the London Festival Ballet as principal dancer, dancing leading roles across Europe and Asia, and was a founding member of the New London Ballet. She was a guest teacher in London, Scotland, Portugal, Hong Kong, and Tokyo, and staged classical ballets around the world.
In 1975, Starr and her husband, Alun Jones, came to Louisville to help found the Academy of the Louisville Ballet with dancers Richard Munro and Christina Stirling. Starr was a teacher at the Academy and a guest dancer for the Ballet. In 1978, Starr became principal dancer for the Ballet, a position she held for twenty-two seasons until her retirement in 1998. She was also the associate artistic director and repetiteur for the Louisville Ballet. In 1986, Starr was honored with the title of Kentucky Colonel.
Starr and Jones had two children, Hannah Elizabeth Thomas (1972-) and Gareth Thomas Jones (1975-).
Sources:
65 Years: Making. Moving. Art. by the Louisville Ballet, 2016.
https://www.courier-journal.com/obituaries/lcj166882
https://www.louisvilleballet.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/About-Alun-Jones-1.pdf
Louisville Ballet season program 1979/1980 [Mss. A J76b folder 60]
Welcome to A Great Company program ca. 1982 [Mss. A J76b folder 61]
“1998-1999 Season at Penn State” program [Mss. A J76b folder 72]
Folder List
Box 1
Folder 1: Personal correspondence, 1978-2002
Folder 2: Personal correspondence, undated
Folder 3: Correspondence in response to heart attack and forced leave of absence, April-June 1984
Folder 4: Correspondence after cancellation of forced leave of absence and new contract, July 1984, Jan.-Feb. 1985
Folder 5: Miscellaneous material regarding forced leave of absence, June 1984
Folder 6: Correspondence and other material regarding Jones winning Governor’s Milner Award, Dec. 1998-Feb. 1999
Folder 7: Recommendation letters written on behalf of Jones, 1975-1977
Folder 8: Production and company business/financial correspondence, 1976-1980
Folder 9: Production and company business/financial correspondence, 1981-1986
Folder 10: Production and company business/financial correspondence, 1987-1995
Folder 11: Production and company business/financial correspondence, 1996-2013 and undated
Folder 12: Correspondence and other material regarding Billy the Kid, 1983-1985
Folder 13: Correspondence and other material regarding Cakewalk, 1980-1985
Folder 14: Correspondence regarding Carmina Burana, 1985
Folder 15: Correspondence regarding Echoing of Trumpets, 1990
Folder 16: Correspondence regarding Filling Station, 1985-1990
Folder 17: Correspondence regarding Gaîté Parisienne, 1982 and undated
Folder 18: Correspondence regarding Gala Performance, 1991-1995
Folder 19: Correspondence regarding The Green Table, 1983-1986
Folder 20: Correspondence and other material regarding La Fête étrange, 1980-1985
Folder 21: Correspondence regarding La Sonnambula, 1982-1986
Folder 22: Correspondence regarding Les Patineurs, 1981-1994
Folder 23: Correspondence regarding Natives of Dreamland, 1987-1988
Folder 24: Correspondence regarding Serenade, 1984-1991
Folder 25: Correspondence and other material regarding Nutcracker, 1982-1983
Folder 26: Correspondence regarding Romeo and Juliet, 1985
Folder 27: Correspondence regarding Sleeping Beauty, 1986
Folder 28: Correspondence regarding Sunflowers, 1985-1986
Folder 29: Correspondence and other material regarding A Time to Remember, 1993-1996
Folder 30: Correspondence regarding Veneziana, 1986-1990
Folder 31: Correspondence regarding miscellaneous ballets, 1979-1982
Ballets include Allegro Brilliante, Fandango, Donizetti Variations, Beauty and the Beast, and Wingborne
Folder 32: Correspondence regarding miscellaneous ballets, 1983-1987
Ballets include Raymonda Variations, The Grand Tour, Napoli, Picture of Dorian Gray, and Valse-Fantaisie
Folder 33: Correspondence regarding miscellaneous ballets, 1988-1995 and undated
Ballets include Scheherazade, Con Amore, Napoli, Nutcracker, and Paradise Gained
Folder 34: Blank cards featuring Jones’s costume designs for Cinderella, undated
Folder 35: Jones’s application for permanent U.S. Resident status and Louisville Ballet letter of support, Nov. 1978-Jan. 1979
Folder 36: Material related to Alexandra Danilova, including a copy of a 1955 letter written to Whiteford R. and Mary B. Cole of Louisville, undated
Folder 37: Louisville Ballet Personnel Handbook, April 1993
Folder 38: Louisville Ballet job descriptions, undated
Folder 39: Artist and contractor agreements/contracts, 1980-2004 and undated
Folder 40: Mikhail Baryshnikov agreements/contracts, 1978-1979
Folder 41: Production and rehearsal schedules, 1984-1985 and undated
Folder 42: Call for extras for Petrushka (featuring Baryshnikov), 1979
Folder 43: Louisville Ballet board of directors’ minutes and member list, Feb.-May 1981-1986
Folder 44: Louisville Ballet financial material, 1976-2012
Folder 45: Louisville Ballet fact sheets, histories, etc., undated
Folder 46: Louisville Ballet press releases, 1982-1999
Folder 47: Louisville Ballet magazine, Dec. 1981, Oct.-Dec. 1982
Folder 48: Louisville Ballet magazine, Feb., April, Oct., Dec. 1983
Folder 49: Louisville Ballet magazine, Feb.-April 1984
Folder 50: The Center: Kentucky Center for the Arts Magazine, Oct.-Nov. 1984 and Jan., Feb., April 1985
Folder 51: The Center: Kentucky Center for the Arts Magazine, Oct. 1985-Feb. 1986 and April 1986
Folder 52: The Center magazine, Sept. and Dec. 1986, Jan.-April 1987
Folder 53: The Center magazine, Oct. 1987-March 1988
Folder 54: The Center magazine, Oct. 1988-April 1989
Folder 55: The Center magazine, Oct. 1989-March 1990
Folder 56: The Center magazine, Oct. 1990-March 1991 and Oct. 1991
Folder 57: Kentucky Center for the Arts magazine, Oct.-Dec. 1991, March-April 1992
Folder 58: Kentucky Center for the Arts magazine, Sept. and Nov.-Dec. 1992, Jan and March 1993
Folder 59: Louisville Ballet programs, 1975-1979 seasons
Folder 60: Louisville Ballet programs, 1979-1980 season
Folder 61: Louisville Ballet programs, 1980-1982 seasons
Folder 62: Audience programs, Oct. 1993-March 1994
Folder 63: Audience programs, Sept. and Nov.-Dec. 1994, Jan.-March 1995
Folder 64: Audience programs, May, Sept., and Dec. 1995-Feb. 1996
Folder 65: Audience programs, March, Sept., Nov.-Dec. 1996, Feb.-March 1997
Folder 66: Audience programs, April, Oct., Nov. 1997 and Feb.-April 1998
Folder 67: Audience programs, May, Oct.-Dec. 1998 and Jan.-Feb. 1999
Folder 68: Audience programs, April., Sept.-Oct. and Dec. 1999-April 2000 and Nov. 2000
Folder 69: Audience programs, April, Sept. Oct. 2001 and Feb.-April 2002
Folder 70: Audience programs, Sept.-Oct. and Dec. 2002, Jan. and March 2003
Box 2
Folder 71: Audience programs, Oct.-Dec. 2003, Feb., March, Sept. 2004
Folder 72: Programs for miscellaneous performances, 1978-2017 and undated
Folder 73: Kentucky Center for the Arts opening night publications and menu, 19 Nov. 1983
Folder 74: Louisville Ballet mailers and fliers, 1978-2000 and undated
Folder 75: Outside publications featuring Louisville Ballet articles, interviews, or promotions, 1988-2002
Folder 76: Clippings, 1976-1979 seasons
Folder 77: Clippings, 1979-1980 season
Folder 78: Clippings, 1980-1981 season
Folder 79: Clippings, 1981-1982 season
Folder 80: Clippings, 1982-1983 season
Folder 81: Clippings, 1983-1984 season
Folder 82: Clippings, 1984-1986 seasons
Folder 83: Clippings, 1986-1988 seasons
Folder 84: Clippings, 1989-1991 seasons
Folder 85: Clippings, 1991-1994 seasons
Folder 86: Clippings, 1994-1998 seasons
Folder 87: Clippings, 1998-2001 seasons
Folder 88: Clippings, undated
Folder 89: Clippings regarding touring, ca. 1981-1991
Folder 90: Clippings regarding Kentucky Opera Association, ca. 1980s
Oversized
Oversized folder 91: Helen Starr awards and certificates, 1986-1987
Certificate honoring Starr with the title of Kentucky Colonel
Certificate honoring Starr with an honorable mention in the category of Performing Artist, Louisville Magazine Best of Louisville Award
Subject Headings
Baryshnikov, Mikhail, 1948-
Danilova, Alexandra, 1903-1997
Kentucky Center for the Arts (Louisville, Ky.)
Louisville Ballet.
Performing arts.
Starr, Helen, 1940-