Collection Manuscript/Mixed Material Marge Champion collection,

Title

• Marge Champion collection,

Summary

• The collection, which documents Marge Champion's life and career, includes biographical materials, correspondence, photographs, programs, promotional materials, manuscript music scores and parts, articles, clippings, scripts, scrapbooks, awards, and posters. The collection also holds materials related to Champion's former husband, director and choreographer Gower Champion, and her father, dancer, choreographer, and teacher Ernest Belcher.
• Personal Papers Series consists of materials related to Marge's personal life, including: photographs of her weddings to Gower Champion and Boris Sagal; travel ephemera and documentation; notebooks and childhood schoolwork; government records such as passport photocopies; legal correspondence and financial documents; published writings by Marge and notes for speeches or remarks; and calendar appointment books spanning several decades. This series also contains significant materials on Marge's work with liturgical dance performance and programming.
• The Photographs Series documents Marge's life from early childhood through the first decade of the 21st century with both studio portraiture created for professional purposes and informal snapshots of family gatherings or events.
• Clippings and Published Materials Series contains articles, clippings, magazines, academic writing, and book excerpts documenting Marge's life and career. Also found in this series are several publications in Japanese with interviews or information on Marge. Clippings related to specific productions or organizations are housed with those materials in subsequent series.
• The majority of the Scrapbooks Series is dedicated to the first decade of Marge and Gower's partnership as a dance team. Ten volumes or bundles of loose scrapbook pages cover Marge's career through clippings, professional correspondence, ephemera, and photographs.
• Correspondence Series consists of letters and telegrams primarily written to Marge, as well as those written by her to Gower Champion and their second son Blake. The series is organized alphabetically by the author's last name and concludes with several folders of unidentified or miscellaneous correspondents organized chronologically.
• Production Files Series is divided into two subseries: Stage Productions and Film and Television. Each subseries is organized alphabetically by production title and contains varying documentation. Materials include clippings, correspondence, legal documents, music parts and scores, photographs, programs, and scrapbooks. Under Stage Productions, substantial materials can be found on the Broadway musicals 'Bye bye Birdie', 'Carnival', 'Hello,Dolly!', and 'I do! I do!'. Directed and choreographed by Gower Champion, these productions also may have included creative contributions from Marge, though she is only credited with assisting on 'Hello, Dolly!'. The subseries also holds significant material on Marge's performances in musicals '3 for tonight' and 'Follies', as well as her work choreographing and subsequently directing the play 'Stepping out'. Several scores and instrumental parts for individual songs used in nightclub performances are also present. The Film and Television subseries holds material relevant to Marge's career on both the silver and small screen. There is significant documentation on her early work as a model for the Disney animators of 'Snow White and the seven dwarfs' as well asher partnership with Gower in five MGM musicals made between 1951 and 1955 and the Marge and Gower Champion Show, a short-lived televised sitcom. Music scores and instrument parts for individual songs may be found within this last show's files or organized alphabetically under the heading 'televised variety shows'.
• Ernest Belcher Series contains clippings, photographs, interviews, correspondence, academic writing, programs, and information on Belcher's dance school and students. A pair of Belcher's ballet slippers and anautographed megaphone given to Belcher are also in this series. Additional material is available through the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division.
• Gower Champion Series contains clippings, correspondence, ephemera, and photographs organized largely by material type. There is substantial research and writing for 'Before the parade passes by: Gower Champion and the glorious American musical', a 2005 biography by John Anthony Gilvey.
• Subject Files Series is divided into two subseries: People and Organizations. Both subseries are organized alphabetically by name and include clippings, correspondence, ephemera, notes, and photographs. Correspondence in this series relates to the specific person or organization and may not be to or from Marge Champion. For example, the George Balanchine file holds a 1945 letter to Balanchine from his longtime assistant, George Antheil. It is unclear how Marge came into possession of this letter. The People subseries collects material on Marge's sphere of friends, acquaintances, or interests, with significant documentation on Marge's sons, her husband Boris Sagal, Boris's brother Daniil Sagal, and family friends Jess Gregg, Al Hirschfeld, and his wife Louise Kerz Hirschfeld. Organizations contains considerable materials on the Mafundi Institute and Jacob's Pillow, as well as information on Marge's involvement with numerous professional associations, performance companies, colleges, and non-profits.
• Awards Series includes various certificates, plaques, and other awards granted to Marge Champion.

Names

• Champion, Marge

Headings

• -  Champion, Marge
• -  Champion, Marge--Archives
• -  Champion, Marge--Correspondence
• -  Champion, Marge--Photographs
• -  Dancers--United States
• -  Women dancers--United States
• -  Actors--United States
• -  Champion, Gower,--1919-1980
• -  Belcher, Ernest,--1883-1973
• -  Champion, Gower,--1919-1980--Photographs
• -  Champion, Gower,--1919-1980--Correspondence
• -  Sagal, Boris,--1923-1981
• -  Gregg, Jess
• -  Musicals--United States
• -  Musical films--United States
• -  Religious dance
• -  Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
• -  Walt Disney Company
• -  Jacob's Pillow
• -  Sifriyah le-maḥol, Yiśraʼel
• -  Mafundi Institute (Watts, Los Angeles, Calif.)
• -  Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
• -  Snow White and the seven dwarfs (Motion picture)
• -  Choreographers--United States
• -  Theatrical producers and directors--United States
• -  Dance in motion pictures, television, etc.--United States
• -  Theater--United States
• -  Popular music--United States
• -  Dance--Production and direction
• -  Dance--United States
• -  Performing arts--United States
• -  Motion pictures--United States
• -  Hello, Dolly (Motion picture)

Genre

• Scores
• Artifacts (Object genre)
• Awards
• Clippings (Information artifacts)
• Contracts
• Correspondence
• Photographic prints
• Posters
• Programs (Documents)
• Promotional materials
• Scrapbooks
• Scripts (Documents)

Notes

• -  Organized into the following series: I. Personal Papers, 1919-2012, II. Photographs, 1919-circa 2005, III. Clippings and Published Materias, 1936-2010, IV. Scrapbooks, 1919-2002, V. Correspondence, 1922-2014, VI. Production Files, 1932-2014, arranged in two subseries (I. Stage Productions, 1932-2014, II. Film and Television, 1933-2011), VII. Ernest Belcher, 1897-2014, VIII. Gower Champion, 1921-2009, IX. Subject Files, circa 1915-2014, arranged in two subseries (I. People, circa 1915-2010, II. Organizations, 1933-2014), X. Awards, circa 1980-2010.
• -  Marge Champion (b. Sept. 2, 1919, in Los Angeles, Calif.) is an American dancer, actress, director, choreographer, and teacher.
• -  Ernest Belcher was Marge Champion's father and first dance instructor. He was born in London, England, on June 8, 1883. Belcher founded the Celeste School of Dance in 1916, one year after he moved to Los Angeles from London. Soon after his arrival to the United States he became known as Southern California's "Father of Ballet". In 1922 he became the first choreographer to present dance at the Hollywood Bowl. Belcher also created pieces for Hollywood's burgeoning film industry. He died on February 24, 1973 in Hollywood, California.
• -  Gower Carlyle Champion was born June 22, 1919 in Geneva, Illinois. He studied dancing from an early age. At fifteen, he performed in nightclubs with Jeanne Tyler under the billing "Gower and Jeanne." During the late 1930s and early 1940s, Champion worked on Broadway as a solo dancer and choreographer. After serving in the U.S. Coast Guard during World War II, Champion met Marjorie Belcher, who became his new partner, and the two were married in 1947. Together they formed the dance team "Gower and Bell" and, after getting married, the became Marge and Gower Champion. He died on August 25, 1980, which also happened to be the opening day of 42nd Street, his directorial return to Broadway.
• -  Collection material primarily in English, but also includes printed material in Cantonese, Czech, French, Hebrew, Italian, Japanese, Russian, and Spanish.
• -  Gift; Marge Champion; 2006.
• -  Gift; Marge Champion; 2015.
• -  Gift; Naima Prevots; 2012.
• -  Audiovisual materials and sound recordings Marge and Gower Champion Collection (MAVIS collection no. 14583) transferred to the Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division, Library of Congress.
• -  Ernest Belcher Papers; UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections.
• -  Gower Champion Papers; UCLA Library, Department of Special Collections.
• -  Popular Balanchine Dossiers; New York Public Library.
• -  Additional information about the Marge Champion Collection can be found in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Blog, "In the Muse": https://blogs.loc.gov/music/ Articles featured in the blog include, "Calling all Choreographers" (Ernest Belcher's megaphone), "An Exciting Ride: Gower Champion's Carnival! legacy", "Marge Champion, fairest of them all: the towering talent behind Disney's Snow White and the seven dwarfs."
• -  Correspondence with Marge Champion can also be found in the Music Division Vernon Duke Collection and Milton Berle Papers.
• -  Photographs of Gower Champion can also be found in the Music Division Bob Fosse and Gwen Verdon Collection.
• -  Finding aid available in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room and at https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/eadmus.mu012020
• -  Marge Champion Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress.

Medium

• approximately 9,600 items (66 boxes, 52.5 linear feet)

Call Number/Physical Location

• ML31 .C52

Repository

• Library of Congress Music Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA dcu https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.home

Library of Congress Control Number

• 2012563809

Rights Advisory

• Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.

Access Advisory

• Open to research.
• Not all materials in this collection may be readily accessible; please request accessibility information well in advance of your visit https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.music/perform.contact

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/2012563809

Additional Metadata Formats

• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record