Inventory of the Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater Collection, 1974-2003 The Newberry Library Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections 60 West Walton Street Chicago, Illinois 60610-7324 USA Phone: 312-255-3506 Fax: 312-255-3646 E-Mail: specialcolls@newberry.org URL: http://www.newberry.org Machine-readable finding aid encoded by Virginia Hay Smith, 2006. ©2006.

Administrative Information

Cite As

Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater Collection, Midwest Manuscript Collection, The Newberry Library, Chicago.

Provenance

Gift of Dame Libby Komaiko, 2004.

Processed by

Virginia Hay Smith.

Access

The Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater Collection is open for research in the Special Collections Reading Room; 1 box at a time (Priority III).

Ownership and Literary Rights

The Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater Collection is the physical property of the Newberry Library. Copyright may belong to the authors or their legal heirs or assigns. For permission to publish or reproduce any materials from this collection, contact the Roger and Julie Baskes Department of Special Collections.

History of the Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater

American dance company.

The Ensemble Espanol Spanish Dance Theater was founded in Chicago in 1976 by Libby Komaiko (later, Libby Komaiko Fleming). This company of forty dancers, singers and musicians is in residence at Northeastern Illinois University where Komaiko is Professor of Dance in the Department of Music. Komaiko showed great promise in Spanish dance as a young student, having studied in Spain and the United States with Maria Alba, Nana Lorca, Lola Montes, Jose Greco, Elise Stigler, Edo, Manolo Vargas, Paul Haakon, Maria Magdalena, Pedro Azorin, Ciro, Pacita Tomas and Roberto Lorca.

Komaiko has been the recipient of numerous awards and honors. In 1982, she received the Lazo de Dama de la Orden de Isabel la Catolica (Ribbon of the Dame), bestowed by His Majesty Don Juan Carlos, King of Spain, in recognition of her achievements in promoting the artistic, cultural and educational values of the Spanish tradition throughout the United States. In 2003, she won the Ruth Page Award in Chicago for her twenty-seven years as a dancer, choreographer, producer, director and teacher.

Komaiko has been recognized by the City of Chicago for her service to young people, having created the All City Junior Ensemble Espanol, made up of scholarship students from Chicago and suburban schools. She also is the founder of the acclaimed annual American Spanish Dance Festival, and is a sought-after choreographer and master teacher throughout the country.

Scope and Content of the Collection

Mainly photographs of Komaiko, other Spanish dancers, and performances of the Ensemble Espanol, 1974-2003. Also, clippings, flyers, posters, programs, a few pieces of miscellany, and two copies of a videotape, “The First 20 Years”, a documentary showing the history and performances of Komaiko’s life’s work.

Arranged alphabetically by type of material.

Selected Search Terms

The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the Newberry Library's public catalog. Researchers desiring additional materials on a particular topic should search the catalog using these headings.

Names

• Ensemble Espanol
• Fleming, Libby Komaiko

Subjects

• Dance companies – Illinois – Chicago
• Dance posters – Illinois – Chicago -- History -- 20th century
• Dancers -- Portraits
• Dancers – Illinois – Chicago
• Photographs – Illinois – Chicago – 1974-2003
• Posters – Illinois – Chicago – 1983-1996
• Programs – Illinois – Chicago – 1992-2003
• Videocassettes – Illinois – Chicago – 1998
• Women dancers -- Illinois -- Chicago