Greg Reynolds Dance Quintet Records

Collection

Identifier: 022

Staff Only

Scope and Contents

The collection contains performance programs, playbills, flyers, press releases, newspaper clippings, musical scores, correspondence, and administrative records primarily of the Greg Reynolds Quintet. Also included are correspondence, memorabilia, and other personal items of Gregory Reynolds.

Dates

Creation: 1969-1984

Creator

Reynolds, Greg (Person)
Greg Reynold Dance Quintet (Organization)

Language of Materials

English

Biographical / Historical

Greg Christoper Reynolds was a dancer and choreographer from the Anacostia neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Reynold trained in the District with Erika Thimey and Batya Heller. He earned a Bachelor of Arts at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York and received a scholarship to study dance with Alvin Ailey, specializing in liturgical dance. From 1973 to 1976, he was a member of the Paul Taylor Dance Company and traveled throughout the United States and Europe.

In 1976, Reyonds founded the Greg Reynolds Quintet, a multi-ethnic modern dance company that debuted in Moscow, Russia. The Quintet engaged in a variety of performances, including concerts-in-the-schools, workshops, liturgical dance, and public service events in local, national, and international venues. The Quartet disbanded in 1984.

Reynolds was also associate choreographer for the Omega Liturgical Dance Company. Throughout his dance career, Reynolds was particularly active and interested in bringing dance and the arts to students. In the District he worked with Meridian House International, the D.C. Public Library, D.C. Public Schools, and local arts organizations. In 1981, he was appointed for a three-year term to the D.C. Commission on the Arts. Greg Reynolds died in Manhattan, New York on September 21, 2000.

Extent

6 Linear feet

13 Boxes

Additional Description

Arrangement

Series 1: Publicity, .50 linear ft. (1972-1982)
The series consists of news clippings, press releases, publicity flyers, and some programs regarding the Greg Reynolds Quintet’s performances. Much of the series consists of clippings with performance reviews. Folders are arranged chronologically.

Series 2: Tour Files, l linear ft. (1979-1984)
The series contains correspondence, background materials, handwritten notes, schedules, applications, and other administrative records which document preparations for national and international tours as well as a special metropolitan Washington, D.C. dance performance series. Tours and performances range from the Glen Echo Park Summer Dance Festival to a Carnegie Recital Hall performance, Australian Tour, and several dance workshops conducted in the U.S. Midwest. The folders are arranged alphabetically by tour name.

Series 3: Administrative Records, 1.25 linear ft. (1979-1983)
The series includes correspondence, proposals, grant records, financial records, handwritten notes, drafts, clippings, dancer resumes, the Lansburgh site lease, press releases, and other administrative records which document the Greg Reynolds Quintet’s business and artistic operations. As the Administrative Director for the Quintet, Martin Petersilia was responsible for much of this documentation. Correspondence, notes, and a variety of miscellaneous documents found in the collection were arranged chronologically and placed in this series during processing to facilitate research. Also included are records from the Omega Liturgical Dance Company for which Greg Reynolds was the Associate Choreographer from the mid-1970s until the early 1980s.

Series 4: Performance Programs, 1 linear ft. (1969-1975)
The series consists primarily of performance programs, playbills, and publicity flyers of the Greg Reynolds Dance Quintet as well as other local D.C.dance performances. It also contains press releases and press packets for performances.

Series 5: Personal items, .50 linear ft. (1966-1980)
The series contains personal items of Greg Reynolds, including materials regarding his appointment to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities, personal letters, notes, and a diary excerpt.

Series 6: Meridian House International, .50 linear ft. (1978-1979)
These records indicate that Mr. Reynolds was a staff member at Meridian House International in the late 1970s. Most of the records document activities at Meridian House International during Japan Today, an international cultural program that traveled to D.C. and took place from April to June 1979. The Japan Today materials include programs, correspondence, background information, internal memoranda, handwritten notes, photographs, publicity packets, and press releases. Reynolds was responsible for the Japan Today School and Community Outreach Program of dance and mime performances, and a student poster and essay contest. Also included in the series are other programs such as Youth for Understanding and Mexico Today at Meridian House.

Oversized documents, 1 linear ft. (1975-198)
See box list.

Custodial History

Greg Reynolds donated the records of the Quintet in 1986.

Related Materials

See Martin Petersilia Collection, Collection 016.

Processing Information

General processing procedures consisted of discarding duplicates, unnecessary binders, and routine transmittals. Oversized documents were removed from the original location in their assigned series and placed in separate containers. Separation sheets were inserted in the original location within the folder to indicate the new location of any records placed elsewhere. Preservation copying of newspaper clippings was performed whenever feasible.