The Archives and Rare Books Library has recently processed a collection from the Cincinnati Ballet spanning the years 1970-2008.  This collection, full of photographs, contact sheets, sketches, and notes, makes an excellent addition to our already extensive Cincinnati Ballet Records.

The new collection mainly includes visual materials related to The Nutcracker.  Professional photographs, advertising campaigns, and community outreach programs are all documented. Above is a billboard advertisement, “One Size Fits All: This Year Give The Nutcracker.”  Below is “Nut Man” who was very active in the Cincinnati community circa 1988.  Contact sheets and action prints, as seen below, comprise an entire box of the collection.

Other items in the collection include sketches and notes from the ballets Winter’s Traces and Guernica, as well as two stage models documenting set designs. Below: a costume sketch from the 1970 Winter’s Traces and a set model from The Nutcracker.

A finding aid for the new collection is available on the OhioLINK EAD Repository.  To view The Cincinnati Ballet Records or any of ARB’s other holdings, call (513)-556-1959 or email archives@ucmail.uc.edu to schedule an appointment.