Dance and History - library research guide

This is a legacy resource guide for a past course. Please email Sara Smith with questions about these resources or research in this subject area.

Listed in: Theater and Dance, as THDA-234
Moodle site:  Course
Faculty: Ninoska M. Escobar 

Click through each of the tabs below to see various types of reference, database, media, and web resources.

Questions about this guide? Contact

        Online Databases and Exhibits:

        Hemispheric Institute Digital Video Library
        Digital video library of performance practices in the Americas. Includes artist profiles,interviews, bibliographies, production information, image galleries, scripts, and additional materials.

        Performing Arts Encyclopedia
        Database of performing arts resources at the Library of Congress. Includes digitized photographs, manuscripts, correspondence and ephemera.

        PBS American Masters Database--Performing Arts
        Biographical profiles, video clips of interviews, interactive career timelines, and interviews with artists

        Performing Arts in America, 1875-1923
        Database of 16,000 objects representing archival materials from the New York Performing Arts Library collections.

        Global Performing Arts Database
        Digital images, texts, video clips, sound recordings, and complex media objects related to the performing arts around the world

        New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
        The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts houses one of the worlds most extensive combination of circulating, reference, and rare archival collections in its field. These materials are available free of charge, along with a wide range of special programs, including exhibitions, seminars, and performances.

        Billy Rose Theatre Division of the NYPL for the Performing Arts
        The Billy Rose Theatre Division of The New York Public Library is one of the largest and most comprehensive archives devoted to the theatrical arts.

        Digital Public Library of America
        A free, online portal to the digitized collections of various libraries, archives and museums.

         

        Audio and Video sites:

        The Chocolate Factory Theater on Vimeo
        Jacob’s Pillow Dance Interactive
        Jerome Robbins Dance Division Moving Image Archive at NYPL
        The Joyce Theater on YouTube
        New York Live Arts on Vimeo
        OntheBoardsTV
        PS122 TV
        Walker Art Center Dance
        Walker Art Center Theater

          SOME TIPS:

          • Search the catalog for biographies of choreographers, dancers, directors, etc., and contextual scholarship.
          • For production/performance histories, you can look for reviews orother primary sources that document the performance (see newspapers, magazines, archival collections,).
          • The Wayback Machine can also be helpful if you need to go back to a website at an earlier point in time.
          • Besides films or recordings found in the library catalog and Kanopy, look at YouTube, Vimeo, or elsewhere on the internet. You can also find photographs online (see the "Web" tab of this guide).