Dance treasures, one and all!

Dance Heritage Coalition--founded in 1992 with the mission of documenting dance and preserving its record--has announced twelve additions to its list of America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures. The roster includes:

Josephine Baker

Joan Myers Brown

Clark Center for the Performing Arts

Alonzo King

Isamu Noguchi

Ginger Rogers

Urban Bush Women

See the complete list here.

Gregory Hines in The Cotton Club (1984)
(photo: Photofest.)

See the page for Dance Treasure Gregory Hines here.

Dance History Coalition is the sole national non-profit alliance of institutions holding significant collections of materials documenting the history of dance. Its mission is to preserve, make accessible, enhance and augment the materials that document the artistic accomplishments in dance of the past, present, and future.

Learn more here.

Dance: an American treasure

America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: the First 100

Dance comprises an entire world of spiritual and secular ideas, stories, emotions, and human experience, understood and expressed through movement. The rich history of dance in America serves as a reflection and a record of the nation's increasingly diverse, dynamic culture.

In the Fall of 1999, the Dance Heritage Coalition solicited nominations for America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: the First 100. Over 900 nominations from across the full range of American dance artistry, forms, and traditions were submitted and vetted through a three-stage process of selection committees made up of experts from across the country.

The list of America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: the First 100 is intended to heighten public interest in the magnificence and richness of America's dance heritage and the imperative to document and preserve it for future generations.

Read more at 100 Treasures. 

And also at: http://www.danceheritage.org/treasures_launch_announcement_pr.pdf

Archiving America's dance collections

I've just received this announcement and request from an associate of Bonnie Oda Homsey of the Los Angeles Dance Foundation:

Matching Your Archive to America’s Dance Collections

Dance artists and dance companies:

Please tell us about your key legacy issues at https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/matchingyourarchive2012

Your feedback informs the construction of Dance Collections Database (DCD) a free, online database matching artists/dance companies with potential institutions to house archive materials.   We are seeking feedback from ALL types of dance forms and styles of concert, commercial, heritage-based and traditional, and social dance.

Survey is online January 2-February 13.

DCD is a NEA-funded consortia project with Dance Heritage Coalition.

Dance Heritage group wants your essays

Online Treasures Exhibit—Call for Contributors

The Dance Heritage Coalition is soliciting contributions of essays for a new online exhibition presenting America’s Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100. The site will convert a successful traveling exhibit into a permanent online resource, including a 1,000-word essay on each of the Treasures, augmented by multimedia, links and references. This online exhibition will provide a much-needed web source for reliable scholarship on dance and a gateway to further research.

We are seeking writers to contribute 1,000-word essays, which should offer a fresh perspective on the significance of the subject, provide an accurate biographical/historical overview, and place the topic within dance scholarship. Essays should be written in clear, jargon-free language and include a list of recommended references.

Writers should have substantial knowledge of the subject, including academic study or professional experience, and have a successful record of professional and/or academic writing. If you are interested in contributing, please list the subject(s) you would like along with about 100 words on your credentials related to those topics. If available, include selected links or references to published works.

Contact: Imogen Smith, Project Manager, at ismith@danceheritage.org.

Essays have not been confirmed for the following subjects; those with asterisks are particularly in need of a writer. Additional topics may become available.

Charles “Cholly” Atkins

Ballet Russe

Michael Bennett

Bennington School of Dance

Jack Cole*

Honi Coles*

Aaron Copland

Merce Cunningham

Asadata Dafora*

Dance Notation Bureau

Dance Theater Workshop

Alexandra Danilova

Chuck Davis*

Agnes De Mille

Isadora Duncan

Katherine Dunham

Suzanne Farrell

Federal Dance Project*

Bob Fosse

Jose Greco*

Gregory Hines

Hanya Holm*

Lester Horton*

Doris Humphrey

Sol Hurok*

Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival*

Robert Joffrey*

Master Juba*

Bella Lewitzky*

Jose Limon

Iolani Luahine*

Matteo and Carola Goya*

Donald McKayle*

Meredith Monk*

Lillian Moore*

Mark Morris

New York City Ballet

Bronislava Nijinska

Rudolf Nureyev*

The Nutcracker

Ruth Page*

Anna Pavlova

Pearl Primus*

Bill “Bojangles” Robinson

Ruth St. Denis*

Savoy Ballroom

Bessie Schonberg

Ted Shawn

Oliver Smith

Swing Dance

Helen Tamiris*

Twyla Tharp

Jennifer Tipton*

Antony Tudor

Edward Villella

Charles Weidman*

Dance Heritage Coalition
1111 16th St., NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20036
Phone: 202-223-8392 

Fax: 202-833-2686
dhc@danceheritage.org