{"id":2835,"date":"2023-10-02T09:30:23","date_gmt":"2023-10-02T13:30:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/?p=2835"},"modified":"2023-10-04T10:48:50","modified_gmt":"2023-10-04T14:48:50","slug":"one-of-the-originals-coral-martindale-aubert-and-the-alwin-nikolais-dance-company","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/2023\/10\/02\/one-of-the-originals-coral-martindale-aubert-and-the-alwin-nikolais-dance-company\/","title":{"rendered":"One of the “Originals”: Coral Martindale Aubert and the Alwin Nikolais Dance Company"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Greta Suiter, Manuscripts Archivist<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

A small set of records was recently added to the Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis Dance Collection<\/a> at the Mahn Center. The .25 cubic foot addition to an over 400 cubic foot collection may seem inconsequential, but it puts the dancer Coral Martindale Aubert front and center. The records include photographs, video, correspondence, notes, and programs from one of the original members of the Alwin Nikolais Dance Company. These records also show the unique ties members of the “Nikolais Legacy Group” have to each other through correspondence from as recent as 2021.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Clockwise from upper left: Group photo of original Nikolais company members with Coral Martindale Aubert in the center; two images from a Nikolais performance featuring Aubert; and Aubert’s certificate of completion from the Henry Street Playhouse from 1957.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Aubert was introduced to the Henry Street Playhouse on the Lower East Side of Manhattan by her high school teacher in 1952-1953 and a year later she was a part of the Nikolais Dance Company which she performed with from 1955 to 1958. Over the years Aubert continued to share the joy of dance with others by teaching in Brooklyn in the 1970s and 1980s and working with homeless and at-risk youth. In 2008 she developed a Liturgical Dance Ministry at the Central Baptist Church in New York. Her collection includes videos of her dancing in the church. (1)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Still from a liturgical dance piece by and featuring Coral Aubert.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Aubert’s papers are one of a few supplemental collections of dancers that enhance the Nikolais and Louis Collection. Other individuals with their own sets of materials include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n