Fonds Acc5187 - Alan Lund fonds

Title and statement of responsibility area

Title proper

Alan Lund fonds

General material designation

  • Multiple media

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  • Source of title proper: Title based on provenance of the fonds

Level of description

Fonds

Reference code

CA PCA Acc5187

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Issuing jurisdiction and denomination (philatelic)

Dates of creation area

Date(s)

  • 1962-2004; Copied and Digitized 2013 (Creation)
    Creator
    Lund, Alan

Physical description area

Physical description

.63 m. of textual records and other material

Publisher's series area

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Archival description area

Name of creator

Lund, Alan (1925-1992)

Biographical history

Alan Lund was born 23 May 1925 in Toronto, Ontario. He grew up in Toronto and began dancing at the age of seven. He met his future wife Blanche Harris and the two started dancing as a pair in their teens. The couple married 13 May 1944. Alan and Blanche became known as Canada’s leading dance team, appearing in the World War II musical revue "Meet the Navy" which toured Canada for fifteen months before taking the show overseas. Following the end of the war, the couple continued to tour Europe and performed in a number of productions.

The Lunds returned to Canada in 1948. Alan and Blanche continued to perform together and were pioneers in the Canadian variety television industry, appearing in "Showtime," "Mr. Showbiz," "Parade," "Hit Parade," and "Big Revue." The Lunds were the first contract players to sign with CBC Television in 1952. Alan starting choreographing around 1950. He choreographed the Canadian National Exhibition Grandstand shows for fourteen years and staged and choreographed the first professional company of Canada’s musical dance theatre, "Les Feux Follets." Alan also contributed to productions at the Stratford Festival in Stratford, Ontario.

Alan was the director and choreographer of the original "Anne of Green Gables: The Musical" at the Charlottetown Festival in 1965. He would serve as Artistic Director of the Charlottetown Festival from 1968 to 1986. Alan directed a number of productions during this time, including "Johnny Belinda," "Kronborg," "Peter Pan," "Good Time Johnny," "Oliver," and "Jane Eyre." His own "Legends of the Dumbells" premiered at the Charlottetown Festival in 1977. Alan and Blanche created "Swing!", a tribute to the big band era, which Alan directed and choreographed in Charlottetown in 1986. From 1987 until his death, Alan would serve as Resident Director of the Rainbow Stage Theatre in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Alan also worked with musical theatre students at the Banff Centre for a number of years.

In 1982 Alan was awarded the Order of Canada for his contribution to dance. Alan also received an honourary degree from the University of Prince Edward Island in 1987.

Alan and Blanche had four sons. Alan Lund died 1 July 1992 in Toronto. His wife Blanche was a resident of Nova Scotia in 2013.

Custodial history

Scope and content

The fonds consists of scripts, scores, production notes, programs, clippings, and other materials relating to productions directed, choreographed, or created by Alan Lund, 1964-1993. The material seems to relate to productions that were presented at the Charlottetown Festival during this time, although Alan was also involved in productions elsewhere in the country. The fonds also includes digitized photographs of productions, as well as sound and video recordings.

Notes area

Arrangement

Language of material

  • English

Script of material

Location of originals

Availability of other formats

Restrictions on access

NO RESTRICTIONS ON ACCESS

Terms governing use, reproduction, and publication

PERMISSION FOR USE AND REPRODUCTION IS REQUIRED FROM THE PUBLIC ARCHIVES AND RECORDS OFFICE; QUESTIONS REGARDING COPYRIGHT ARE THE RESPONSIBILITY OF THE USER

COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS APPLY

Finding aids

SERIES AND SUBSERIES DESCRIPTIONS AVAILABLE

Associated materials

See also the Confederation Centre of the Arts fonds (RG44) for more information about the Charlottetown Festival and its productions

Papers of Alan Lund can also be found at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto (Toronto, ON). The finding aid can be viewed at online at http://fisher.library.utoronto.ca/sites/fisher.library.utoronto.ca/files/lund571.pdf (accessed June 2016)

Records belonging to Alan and Blanche Lund are held by Dance Collection Danse (Toronto, ON)

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Accruals

General note

Arrangements to access digitized images, audio, and moving image recordings should be made in advance. Please speak to a staff member for more information

Physical description

Includes .63 m. of textual records, 1.89 GB of electronic records, 9 reel-to-reel sound recordings (ca. 275 minutes), 15 video recordings (ca. 750 minutes)

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Description record identifier

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Level of detail

Language of description

  • English

Script of description

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