Beth Dean and Victor Carell papers, 1880-2000

fonds

1880-2000

Textual Records, Graphic Materials, Nonmusical Sound Recordings, Musical Sound Recordings, Objects, Moving Images, Manuscript Notated Music, Notated Music

74465

Ruth Elizabeth Dean (known as Beth Dean), ballerina, concert dancer, choreographer, author and critic was born in Denver Colorado, USA in 1918. She studied classical ballet in Paris with Leo Staats of the Paris Opera, with Nicholas Legat in London, and with Theodore Dasloff in Los Angeles.

Victor Thomas Cioccarelli (known as Victor Carell), singer, director, film producer and author was born in Sydney in 1916. He received his early musical education in Sydney and in 1937 left for Europe to study with Vincinzo de Giorgio at the S S Cecelia Conservatory in Rome. He subsequently achieved success as a soloist in London, Canada and America where he appeared in many concert and radio performances and, while studying with Giacomo Rimini as a leading baritone with the Chicago Opera.

Having met while performing in the operetta The Waltz King, Beth Dean and Victor Carell married in Detroit, USA in 1944. From 1947, they toured Australia and New Zealand for three years with the original Annie Get your Gun company and later settled permanently in Sydney. They developed an interest in the indigenous art forms of Australia and the South Pacific and undertook research trips to Central Australia, New Zealand and other Pacific Islands. In the early 1950s they toured Australia, New Zealand, Europe and America performing solo dance, song recitals and lecture demonstrations.

In 1953, Dean and Carell spent eight months living amongst Aboriginal tribes, researching the choreography for John Antill's Corroboree, which was performed by the Arts Council Ballet, with Beth Dean as artistic director and lead dancer, for the Royal Gala performance in Sydney in February 1954, in the presence of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh.

Together, Dean and Carell have been involved in many artistic endeavours. They were instrumental in forming the Cook Islands National Arts Theatre in 1972. They organised the Australian tour of the Ballet of the South Pacific for the Australian Captain Cook Bicentenary Celebrations in 1970. In 1972, they produced and directed the First South Pacific Festival of Arts, held in Suva, Fiji, which involved 4,000 participants from twenty countries. They directed and managed many tours for the Arts Council of Australia, and produced and directed the South Pacific and Folkloric Festivals associated with the opening of the Sydney Opera House in 1973.

Dean and Carell have written numerous books and articles, including biographies of arts administrator Dorothy Helmrich and composer John Antill. The couple published their autobiography, Twin Journey, in 1983. Beth Dean was the dance critic for the Sydney Morning Herald for a number of years and the Australian correspondent for the American publication Dance Magazine.

Victor Carell died in 2001.

Reference:
Compiled from the collection

For more biographical details, see: Valerie Lawson "Dancer many steps ahead of her time", Sydney Morning Herald, 12 May 2012. http://www.smh.com.au/national/obituaries/dancer-many-steps-ahead-of-her-time-20120511-1yhzd.html (accessed May 16, 2012)

SERIES 01
Correspondence, 1937-1993

SERIES 02
Appointment diaries and address book, 1985-2000

SERIES 03
Certificates of recognition, 1930-1992

SERIES 04
Subject files, 1933-1992 Research notes and working papers, 1904-1985

SERIES 05
Research notes and working papers, 1904-1985

SERIES 06
Literary manuscripts, 1932; ca.1954-ca.1992

SERIES 07
Music manuscripts, 1945

SERIES 08
Music manuscripts collected, ca.1958-ca.1984

SERIES 09
Printed music, 1945

SERIES 10
Printed music collected, 1932-1972

SERIES 11
Printed material, 1937-1993

SERIES 12
Photographs, 1880-1988

SERIES 13
Sound recordings, 1937-1986

SERIES 14
Video recordings, 1972-1989)

SERIES 15
Gramophone records, 1969-1976

SERIES 16
Realia, 1944-1973

English, Italian, Russian, French

Partly restricted: Applies to Series 13: Beth Dean and Victor Carell sound recordings, 1937-1986

Approval for reproduction required: Applies to MLMSS 7804/Boxes 86 and 99. Refer to Series 12: Beth Dean and Victor Carell photographs, 1880-1988