Urban myth debunked? Artist Edward Gorey's ballet fandom is centerstage in new museum exhibit

The Edward Gorey House opens its 2022 season on April 7 with a featured exhibition on one of the artist-author-designer’s favorite pastimes — and the truth behind an urban myth.

“Doing the Steps: Edward Gorey and the Dance of Art” pays tribute to his decades-long fandom of the New York City Ballet and the choreography of director George Balanchine, whom Gorey often cited as his inspiration and muse.

Gorey was known for his art and writing, as well as designing sets and costumes (though not for dance or his beloved ballet company) but is also well-known in some circles as the man who attended the New York City Ballet every night for 30 years, according to Gorey House curator Gregory Hischak.

That's not true. But Gorey did see “more of (the performances) than probably anyone else,” except perhaps Balanchine, Hischak said. Ticket stubs that will be part of this year’s exhibit indicate about 150 shows per year and often more than 200, he said, including virtually every annual "Nutcracker" performance for 30-plus years (including matinees).

“Not every show, but certainly a powerful testament to one man’s devotion to one ballet company and its choreographer,” Hischak wrote in an announcement of the exhibit.

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“Doing the Steps,” named for a famous Balanchine quote, is set up among the regular exhibits at the Yarmouth Port house where Gorey — best remembered for multiple books, the credits for PBS' "Masterpiece: Mystery!" series and his award-winning sets for Broadway's "Dracula" —lived and worked for years before his death in 2000. The new exhibit explores both Gorey’s works relating directly to dance and the NYCB, as well as showing how Balanchine’s works “became a vast creative reservoir for Gorey,” Hischak said.

“Movement and pacing, the storyless stories and fragmented narratives  — all aspects of Balanchine’s world — are reflected in Edward’s own works. In fact, ‘Doing the Steps’ invites the notion that virtually all of Edward’s books function as dance pieces.”

The museum is at 8 Strawberry Lane in Yarmouth Port. Tours will be conducted on the hour on this opening schedule: April 7-July 3, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays; July 3-Oct. 9, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays and noon to 4 p.m. Sundays; Oct. 14-Dec. 31, those hours Fridays through Sundays.

Admission: $8; $5 for students, teachers, and age 65+; $2 for ages 6-12, free for under age 6. Information and reservations: edwardgoreyhouse@verizon.net, www.edwardgoreyhouse.org, 508-362-3909.

For the museum's COVID-19 policy, capacity restrictions are in place so reservations are recommended; proof of vaccination is not required; facemasks will be mandatory at the start of the season and will be readdressed as needed.

Contact Kathi Scrizzi Driscoll at kdriscoll@capecodonline.com. Follow on Twitter: @KathiSDCCT.