Librarian
A few resources to get you started with dance history research
Moving history / dancing cultures: a dance history readerCall Number: online accessAlso available as a print book with call number 792.809 M869di
The History of Western Dance (ebook)Call Number: online accessBasic information about dance from antiquity through the 21st century
History of dance: an interactive arts approachCall Number: 792.809 K154hi
Dancing through historyCall Number: 792.809 C27da
Articles
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowOver one thousand academic journals and other scholarly content.
Use Advanced Search and select Performing Arts and other disciplines related to your topic. For example, Asian Studies for Geisha or Kabuki dance, or Classical Studies for dances related to Greek Gods. - Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new windowIndex and abstracts on world history from 1450 to the present. This is a good resource for articles on dance history. Use Advanced Search to specify a historical time period.
- Humanities International Complete This link opens in a new windowFull text of hundreds of journals, books and other published sources from around the world. Covers all aspects of the humanities, with worldwide content pertaining to literary, scholarly and creative thought.
- Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new windowNew Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, the New Grove Dictionary of Opera, and the New Grove DIctionary of Jazz. Includes some biographical information.
- ATLA with ATLASerials This link opens in a new windowUse this database to find articles on liturgical dance or dance in religion.
- Religion Database This link opens in a new windowUse this database to find articles on liturgical dance or dance in religion.
Dance videos and images online
- Dance in Video This link opens in a new windowContains five hundred hours of dance productions and documentaries by the most influential performers and companies of the 20th century. Selections cover ballet, tap, jazz, contemporary, experimental, and improvisational dance and more.
- An American Ballroom CompanionA collection of over two hundred social dance instruction manuals, ca. 1490-1920. Video clips that illustrate the dances are at http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/dihtml/divideos.html. (best viewed with Internet Explorer)
- Jacob's Pillow InteractiveView brief performance excerpts spanning from 1930s dance pioneers to today, recorded at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival.
- NYPL Digital Collections: DanceHistorical dance photographs, video, programs, and more from the New York Public Library's digital archival collections.
- Performing Arts Encyclopedia @ the Library of CongressUse the "Refine your results" options to find videos or images
- TED dance videosTED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) is a nonprofit devoted to "ideas worth spreading." These are videos of and about dance.
What makes a source credible?
Ask these questions* to help determine if a source is credible:
- Who is the author?
- How recent is the source?
- What is the author's purpose?
- What type of sources does your audience value?
* From Using Research and Evidence, the Purdue Online Writing Lab