Catalog Record:
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Library's online catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically therein.
Gift; Marge Champion, 2006. Additional items on Ernest Belcher were donated in 2012 by Naima Prevots.
Further accruals are expected.
The Marge Champion Collection was processed by Nicole Topich in June 2012. A finding aid for the collection was created in June 2012. Nancy Seeger coded the finding aid for EAD format in 2012.
Approximately forty moving images and sound recordings from the Marge Champion Collection have been transferred to the Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. In addition, books that came with the collection have been transferred to the Music Division's general collections. An inventory of these materials is available in the Music Division's collection file, as well as in appendices "A" and "B" of a paper copy of the finding aid located in the Performing Arts Reading Room.
Additional collections of interest include the Ernest Belcher Papers and Gower Champion Papers at the UCLA Library, Dept. of Special Collections, and the Popular Balanchine Dossiers at the New York Public Library.
Related materials in the Library of Congress can be found in the
Materials from the Marge Champion Collection are governed by the Copyright Law of the United States (Title 17, U.S.C.) and other applicable international copyright laws.
The Marge Champion Collection is open to research. Researchers are advised to contact the Music Division prior to visiting in order to determine whether the desired materials will be available at that time.
Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information: [item, date, container number], Marge Champion Collection, Music Division, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
The Marge Champion Collection contains materials pertaining to Champion's life and career, and spans the period 1910-2006, with the bulk of the materials falling between 1940 and 1990.
Materials relating to Champion's former husband, Gower Champion, and to her father, Ernest Belcher, are significant and are woven throughout the collection. Gower Champion was a renowned dancer, director, and choreographer. Born in Illinois in 1919, and raised in Los Angeles, he began dance tours in 1933 with Jeanne Tyler. Documents pertaining to these tours are included in this collection. After World War II, he and Marge became dance partners and married in 1947. They performed primarily as a team throughout the 1950s, although Gower began to branch out, serving as a Broadway choreographer on
Marge Champion's father, Ernest Belcher, was a dancer and choreographer who worked as a trainer and coach for many stars in Hollywood. He was born in London in 1883 and was the principal dancer for the Alhambra Theatre from 1902 to 1909. He moved to Los Angeles in 1915 and founded the Celeste School of Dance in 1916. He was the first choreographer to present dance at the Hollywood Bowl, for which he worked from 1922 until 1936. His first work as a film dance director was in 1918 when he staged dances for D.W. Griffith's
The Marge Champion Collection is arranged into eight series. The Musical Theater and Plays, Films, and Television series contains materials that document the depth and breadth of Champion's long and varied career. It is broken down into four subseries: musical theater and plays, films, television and orchestrations, and is arranged alphabetically by title within each subseries. The series contains an extensive array of materials about Marge Champion's career both before her partnership with Gower, including materials related to her work as a model for the character of Snow White, and after, as well as materials relating to their work together. Materials include manuscript scores and parts, scripts, playbills, photographs, clippings and correspondence.
The Photographs series contains photographs of Marge and Gower in rehearsal as well as glamour shots of the pair. It also contains historical photographs related to Ernest Belcher's career as a dance director for films, and coach and trainer of film actors. Items include photographs of individuals related to dance and film, including Lina Basquette (Ernest Belcher's stepdaughter), Colleen Moore, Derelys Perdue, Ramon Novarro, Georgia Graves, Joyce Coles, Shirley Temple, Cecil B. DeMille, Vivien Fay, Alexandre Volinin and Lydia Kyasht, Harvey Karels, the Crane Twins, Marjorie and Maria Tallchief, Patsy Ruth Miller, and Victor Moore's wife Shirley. In addition, there are photographs of Mae Ross being trained for the MGM "art of skating" film, Margaret Westberg, "Blair and Dean" dance team, Alice Maison, Marie Prevost, Michael Brigarite, Lucile Iverson, Lois Moran, May McAvoy, Tula Belle and her sister Ebba Mona, Pola Negri, June Roper, Ruth St. Denis, Danish dancer Britta Petersen, and John Barrymore. There are also several photographs of the dance team “the Celestes,” which featured Belcher and his partner Dorothy Edwards. The series also includes a piece of film reel from
The Personal and Business Papers series includes personal materials related to Marge’s family members, including half-sister Lina Basquette, father Ernest Belcher, sons Blake and Gregg, and husbands Gower Champion and Boris Sagal. It also contains biographical documents and clippings, and items from her childhood. The business materials include church and liturgical dance records, contracts, correspondence and agreements.
The largest series in the collection, Subject Files, focuses on Marge Champion's travels, event and conference appearances, awards, her involvement in various projects and organizations, and items relating to individuals, including Agnes DeMille, Nanette Fabray, Martha Graham, Mary Martin and Nancy Reagan.
The Clippings and Written Materials series contains clippings that span Marge Champion's entire career. It also contains articles and press clippings that focus on Marge and Gower Champion.
The Scrapbooks series chiefly relates to Marge and Gower Champion's early career as a team. It also contains a significant number of scrapbooks centering on
The Ephemera and Awards series contains Ernest Belcher’s ballet shoes, Marge Champion’s awards, and Ernest Belcher’s megaphone from 1925 signed by many notable performers, including Sam Warner, John Barrymore, Harry Myers, Lina Basquette, Gloria Swanson, Derelys Perdue, Ramon Novarro, Dolores Costello, Sally Rand, Marion Davies, Pola Negri, and Colleen Moore.
The Posters series includes posters from MGM musicals and other films and theater engagements in which Marge Champion appeared.
Approximately forty moving images and sound recordings from the Marge Champion Collection have been transferred to the Library of Congress Motion Picture, Broadcasting and Recorded Sound Division. In addition, books that came with the collection have been transferred to the Music Division's general collections. An inventory of these materials is available in the Music Division's collection file, as well as in appendices "A" and "B" of a paper copy of the finding aid located in the Performing Arts Reading Room.
The Marge Champion Collection is organized in eight series:
Articles and reviews, clippings, correspondence, notes, photographs, programs, scores and scripts.
Arranged alphabetically by title within each subseries.
Contains Gower Champion’s notes.
Includes information on Yung Yung Tsuai Dance Company, Nai-Ni Chen and Chen Yi.
A book with material on
Songs from
One arrangement by Phil J. Lavy.
Manuscript parts registered in 1959.
Arranged by Pete Rugolo, music by Richard Prigor, parts were registered in 1959.
For the
For the
For the
For the
Names written on the manuscript are Jack Latimer and Jeff Bailey.
Arranged by Harry Zimmerman and Al Woodbury.
Arranged by Grau.
For the
Removed for conservation, 6/12/2012.
Removed for conservation, 6/12/2012.
Photographs taken by Helen Montgomery.
Clippings, correspondence, photographs, programs, publicity materials, biographical materials, contracts and other materials
Includes old photographs of Lina, her daughter, and Lina as a newlywed with the Warner family.
Includes materials on the Nartell Twins, Alexander the Man Who Knows (correspondence, clippings, photographs), photographs of Bowl Symphony, article on Belcher, book from the Ernest Belcher Celeste School of Dancing (1924), program, and publicity materials.
Clippings, photographs, correspondence, programs, notes, promotional materials, articles and other materials.
Includes George Antheil's original letter to Balanchine from 1945.
Includes Marge Champion's honorary doctor of fine arts award.
Includes a Helen Montgomery-Drysdale photograph of Carol Channing as Dolly, 1995.
Clippings, correspondence, programs, photographs.