jerome robbins dance division

 JEROME ROBBINS DANCE DIVISION including JEROME ROBBINS ARCHIVE OF THE RECORDED MOVING IMAGE ANNUAL REPORT FISCAL YEAR 2012 Mikhail Baryshnikov in Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances Photograph by Martha Swope Merce Cunningham In Martha Graham's Letter To The World Photograph by Barbara Morgan THE NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS DOROTHY AND LEWIS B. CULLMAN CENTER Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. PROFILE OF THE DIVISION 1.1 Staffing 1.2 Overview, from Curator Jan Schmidt 1.3 Mission statement 1.4 Size of the collection 2. ACTIVITIES 2.1 Collection development and notable acquisitions  ACQUISITIONS OF LARGE COLLECTIONS OF BOTH MOVING IMAGE AND PAPER‐BASED MATERIALS  JEROME ROBBINS DANCE DIVISION PAPER‐BASED MATERIALS ACQUISITIONS  JEROME ROBBINS ARCHIVE OF THE RECORDED MOVING IMAGE AND AUDIO ACQUISITIONS  ORIGINAL DOCUMENTATIONS OF DANCE PERFORMANCES AND INTERVIEWS ON VIDEO  ORAL HISTORY PROJECT  SPEAKING OF DANCING, ANNE BASS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT 2.2 Services to the Public  TOURS FOR STUDENTS AND NOTABLE USERS  USES OF AUDIO/VISUAL COLLECTIONS  USES OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC AND DESIGN COLLECTIONS  INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH KHMER DANCE PROJECT WITH FUNDING FROM ANNE H. BASS  INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH JAN SCHMIDT TO JAPAN 2.3 Processing and bibliographic control  MANUSCRIPTS PROCESSING  THE JEROME ROBBINS FOUNDATION GRANT FOR TEMPORARY CATALOGER  FRIENDS OF THE JEROME ROBBINS DANCE DIVISION GRANT FOR PRINTS AND DESIGNS CATALOGER  ORAL HISTORY CATALOGING  JEROME ROBBINS FOUNDATION FUNDING TO PROCESS JEROME ROBBINS AUDIO 2.4 Preservation and Conservation  ORAL HISTORY PRESERVATION  MOVING IMAGE PRESERVATION  PRESERVATION ADMINISTRATION DIVISION 2.5 Exhibitions and Public Programs  EXHIBITIONS  PUBLIC PROGRAMS 3. NEW PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES 3.1 Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division 3.2 Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division 3.3 Dance Heritage Coalition 3.4 Core of Culture 3.5 The New York State Council on the Arts 3.6 The National Endowment for the Arts 3.7 Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Grant 3.8 Rockefeller Brothers Foundation Grant for Original Documentations 4. STAFF NEWS 4.1 Personnel changes 4.2 Staff development 4.3 Committee activities 4.4 Publications, press and social media  NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES AND RADIO  BLOGS, RECENT ONLINE BLOGS BY STAFF OF THE JEROME ROBBINS DANCE DIVISION 4.5 Volunteers 5. CONCERNS, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES 1 1 1 6 6 7 7 7 10 15 17 21 22 22 23 25 26 27 28 29 29 31 31 32 33 34 34 35 36 37 37 38 40 40 40 42 43 43 43 44 44 45 45 45 46 48 48 49 53 54 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 1. PROFILE OF THE DIVISION 1.1 Staffing Executive Curator: Jan Schmidt Assistant Curator: Charles Perrier, retired on February 17, 2012 Assistant Curator: Danielle Castronovo, hired on May 7, 2012 Senior Administrative Associate: Amy Schwegel (shared with Theatre Division) Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image (Film, Video, and Audio Archive) Director: Tanisha Jones Original Documentation Producer: Daisy Pommer Oral History Coordinator: Susan Kraft (PT) Moving Image Specialist: Arlene Yu (temporary 3 years) Paper‐Based Collections Photo Orders: Alice Standin (PT) Paper‐Based Collections Coordinator Librarian: VACANT Reference Desk Staff Charles Perrier, retired 2/17/12, Danielle Castronovo, started 5/7/12, Tanisha Jones, Daisy Pommer, Alice Standin (PT), Susan Kraft (PT), Arlene Yu (temporary) Temporary Staff on Grants Cataloger: Crystal Rangel (three‐year temporary, funded by Jerome Robbins Foundation) Prints and Designs Cataloger: Susan Au (two‐year temporary, funded by Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division) Jerome Robbins Audio Processor and Cataloger: Imogen Smith, (temporary, funded by Jerome Robbins Foundation) Oral History Project: Imogen Smith, (temporary, funded by Anne Bass for oral history project called Speaking of Dancing) Oral History NYSCA processor, Jerome Robbins Audio Processor; Cassie Mey 1.2 Overview, from Curator Jan Schmidt “I had a little bit of time to check out the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, and one of my missions for this trip was to watch some archival footage. Nowhere else would I be able to see a full recording of Violette Verdy in Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux and see it I did! The entire collections here are much too vast, and any dance researcher could spend a lifetime here trying to see it all. As annoyed as I am that I can’t take materials home, it is pretty amazing that these materials are available to the public. Going to the library isn’t just for students/teachers/researchers people–one can easily come here to just watch some amazing ballets for fun!” Steve Ha, You Dance Funny, So Does Me blog post on June 27, 2012 This was an exceptional year for dance, for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, and for The New York Public Library. Dance continued to blaze before the public eye in major venues in New York City and even with television shows such as So You Think You Can Dance and Dancing with the Stars. Dance flourished online with an enormous number of recordings on YouTube and the Dance Channel and with major online blogs and magazines. This year 1 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 over 6,000 dancers took to the streets of New York City in the Sixth Annual Dance Parade and Festival on May 19, 2012, including dancers performing styles as varied as Zumba, Tango, Salsa, Hip Hop, Polynesian, Bolivian, and even Belly Dancing on skates. Whatever a person thinks of the quality or the aesthetics of these outlets for dance, it’s clear that dance was hot this year. This may be the decade of dance, in all its forms from ballet to African, from contemporary to Indian traditional dance, from jazz to tap to Latin ballroom. The variety of the forms of dance and methods of sharing it within the dance community reveal the essential connection among these dance cultures and the complexity of the work of the Library and the Dance Division to preserve this art form. This introduction to the annual report of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division will highlight some of the Division’s major accomplishments to serve our community by acquiring, preserving and making accessible its dance works. Greater detail about these follows in the body of the report. But first, the dramatic changes in The New York Public Library. In this fiscal year, The New York Public Library chose Dr. Anthony W. (Tony) Marx, President of Amherst College and a distinguished political scientist, to become the Library’s next President and CEO, effective July 2011. Dr. Marx was elected by unanimous vote of the Library’s Board of Trustees, succeeding Dr. Paul LeClerc. At Amherst, where Dr. Marx became the youngest president in the College’s history when he assumed the post in 2003, he earned wide recognition for his passionate promotion of socio‐economic diversity and accessibility to higher education for lower‐income students. Then in this same year, The New York Public Library named Ann Thornton its Andrew W. Mellon Director of The New York Public Libraries, responsible for collection development, preservation, reference and research services, and exhibitions at four world‐renowned Research Libraries and 87 Branch Libraries. Ann Thornton has been at NYPL since 1996, when she was hired at the Science, Industry, and Business Library as its first public training coordinator. Most recently, she was Acting Andrew W. Mellon Director of The New York Public Libraries. These changes in the Library’s leadership are an opportunity for The New York Public Library to move forward, as President Marx advances with his vision for education and greater digital accessibility. Foremost among the astonishing events in the dance world that occurred this year was the Merce Cunningham Company’s legacy tour, which received international acclaim. Then, following the wishes of Merce Cunningham, the Company and the Foundation dissolved themselves, leaving the Merce Cunningham Trust. This action reverberated through the dance world and the Dance Division in many ways, but especially in that, before the dissolution, the Company, the Foundation and the Trust provided the Dance Division with the final acquisition of its materials, including nearly 90 boxes of papers and some thousands of reels of film and video. In another gesture of generosity and forward‐thinking, Mikhail Baryshnikov donated some 650 videotapes and 10 boxes of papers and photographs to the Dance Division. This he did while still very active in his career. On November 1, 2011, the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division hosted an elegant event to celebrate the donation of the Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive to the Dance Division. Finally, in an unprecedented occurrence, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division also participated in four auctions within the span of a couple of weeks, successfully bidding on the chosen items, thanks to funding provided by the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. As the stewards of our culture heritage, archivists and librarians receive collections of papers, organize them into acid free boxes with labels, describe the contents in a finding aid, add this record to the catalog, and finally put the new fresh boxes on shelves, so that the original manuscripts, photographs and artworks inside the boxes can be found for any patron who asks, now and for posterity. Even if there are digital files for these papers, the originals must be safeguarded and discoverable. The same process happens in audio/visual archives. We take what are often completely unidentified obsolete‐format analog tapes, give them to a lab to make preservation copies for storage on digital tapes or digital files and to make access copies for patrons to listen to or watch. Then the librarians catalog the tapes, identifying the company, the choreographic work, the dancers, and the music and add this information to our online catalog. Finally, those new, labeled, identified tapes are placed on shelves and/or the digital files that are stored. The creation of order is the work and the joy of libraries and archives. Then, space runs out, labels peel off, boxes get damaged, preservation masters become obsolete formats, digital files get corrupted or outdated, and the nature of the world asserts its primary drive to chaos and disintegration. 2 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 One wants to rewrite the Friedrich von Schiller quote to say that, against chaos, librarians themselves struggle in vain. But it is not in vain. It is merely the reality we deal with and deal with it we do. The enormous amount of collecting, processing, cataloging and materials shifting performed this year at the Dance Division is not only a record of this struggle, but demonstrates the Division’s success with the resulting greater potential for discovery. It is not order for its own sake, but organization that facilitates even greater access to content. These acquisitions, original documentations, oral history recordings and processing projects are but a small sample of the work of the Dance Division. This renewal of our efforts to acquire important collections around the world allows the Dance Division to continue to be the world’s largest and most comprehensive archive devoted to dance and to follow the Library’s mission to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities. As this year ends the Dance Division still has only five FTE (Full Time Equivalent) employees, but we have happily continued to employ four temporary staff members: Arlene Yu is in the final year of her three‐year temporary hire; Crystal Rangel has two years remaining of her three‐year grant; Susan Au is in her final nine months of her two‐
year position, and Cassie Mey has been hired part time for another year on several grants. Also this year, in what was a great loss to the Dance Division, Assistant Curator Charles Perrier decided to retire and left the Library on February 17, 2012. The Dance Division was sorry to lose such an important and knowledgeable staff member. A party, funded mostly by the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, was held in his honor on February 17, 2012, and was a great success. Then, on May 7, 2012, the Dance Division was delighted to hire Danielle Castronovo as the new Assistant Curator. Danielle came back to New York City after four years at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco. Previously, she worked in performing arts in costume design for over ten years, including working with Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Boston Ballet and San Francisco Ballet. The interaction and interdependence of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division with The New York Public Library’s other units has mushroomed. With staff of the other divisions, such as Preservation (for preserving videotape), Manuscripts & Archives (for processing papers), Special Formats Processing (for handling rare books, prints and designs, audio, videotape and film), Information Technology Group (ITG, for digital preservation, web services, personal and public computers), Development (for fund‐raising), Human Resources (for help in hiring staff), Counsel’s Office (for legal advice, including creating Deed of Gifts), Public Programs and Exhibitions (especially here at the Performing Arts Library), to name a few, the Dance Division has a much larger staff to work with than its reduced number of staff would indicate. The number of Dance Division paper materials processed with this new configuration of the Library has been nothing short of spectacular. In this fiscal year, the Manuscripts & Archives Division focused on the Dance Division’s backlog and processed 39 collections comprised of hundreds of boxes, from materials that had been received years ago to more recent acquisitions. Among these newly processed manuscript materials are 47 boxes of the papers of Selma Jeanne Cohen, a pioneering dance historian; 3 boxes of the Martha Graham Dance Company tour records; 4 boxes of the papers of Indrani Rahman, an Indian classical dancer; 43 boxes of the papers of Rouben Ter‐Arutunian, a scenic and costume designer; 75 boxes of records of Danspace Project; 19 boxes of the papers of Irina Baronova, a Russian born ballerina who rose to fame with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; 2 boxes of memorabilia of Anton Dolin, one of the premier danseurs of the twentieth century; 92 boxes of papers from Donald Saddler, an acclaimed American choreographer, dancer, and theater director who was a member of the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division; and 17 boxes of the choreographic notes of Merce Cunningham relating to over 100 of Cunningham's original works. The Special Formats Processing Unit tackled another large backlog of prints and designs, with funds generously donated by the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Last year, the Dance Division hired a temporary cataloger for two years to catalog its backlog of prints and designs. The works had been set aside for over forty years, sometimes from lack of staff to work on them, sometimes because they were out‐of‐scope, and sometimes because they were difficult to catalog as there was little or no information about the artist or the work depicted. 3 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 When the Internet was built and expanded, suddenly the ability to search became an entirely different experience. The cataloger didn’t need to go to a book in a specialized library or visit a museum, but could simply search on the Internet and see examples from museums and other sites and immediately locate information to identify the items. Over 2,600 artworks have been cataloged so far. The Dance Division’s Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image has continued to acquire, preserve and make accessible large numbers of dance videotapes and born‐digital materials. Among the impressive and valuable archives acquired this year, besides the Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive and Merce Cunningham Archive, were major donations by Ronald K. Brown, Jerry Ames, and Janis Brenner. Working with the Moving Image Archive, the Preservation Unit has begun to preserve and deliver digital files. Over the last fiscal year the Moving Image Archive created 22 new recordings, including 19 performances and 3 interviews. They ranged across dance styles and were recorded in a wide variety of venues. As part of this program, the Dance Division, when permissions are cleared, give copies to the companies and choreographers for restaging and promotion. Calvin Hunt, Senior Director of Performance & Production, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater wrote, “As a result of the Dance Division recording the [December 16, 2011] program, we now have a multi‐camera, professionally edited document of the world premiere of Home. The other works documented were Arden Court, Takademe, and Minus 16. . . . The recording we received from the Dance Division is an invaluable tool which will be used for restaging the work, and teaching and passing on choreography to other dancers and students.” Also in this year, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division is in its final year of a four‐year project to record interviews with dancers in Cambodia, a project funded by Anne H. Bass. The Speaking of Dancing oral history project, also funded by Anne H. Bass is nearing completion. Excerpts from the interviews will be posted on the Library’s AV internet channel for dance. Another project was to complete the preservation and processing of the remaining audio tapes from the Jerome Robbins Collection. This was completed as of May, 2012, with funding remaining from the 2008 Jerome Robbins Exhibition fund. With the rearrangement of the reference desks at the Library for the Performing Arts, the public was concerned about the service to the community for patrons of the Library. Though the transition was difficult and there are still issues to be worked out for reference on the third floor, the Dance Division continues to receive testimonials from researchers about the greatness of the Library, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and the assistance of the staff members, often noted by name. Stephanie Rosenthal, editor, wrote “The following individuals and institutions kindly lent to the exhibition:…The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts….We would like to thank…Tanisha Jones, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.” This was in her book accompanying an exhibition at the Hayward Gallery, Southbank Centre, London, MOVE – Choreographing You: Art and Dance Since the 1960s, MIT Press, © 2011. “The irreplaceable New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center made it possible for me to track down most of the rarities in the de Mille bibliography: I thank especially Jan Schmidt, Curator of the Dance Division; Charles Perrier; and Jeremy Megraw (Billy Rose Theatre Collection). Mindy Aloff, editor, who relied on research using primary source materials in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division wrote this in her book Leaps in the Dark: Art and the World, Agnes de Mille; University Press of Florida © 2011. For his book Martha Graham in Love and War: The Life in the Work , published by Oxford University Press, © 2012, Mark Franko used numerous oral histories, moving images, clipping files, the Bertram Ross Papers, Martha Graham Center of Dance records, and letters from Martha Graham to David Zellmer. He wrote in his introduction, “I am much indebted to the resourcefulness and generosity of. . . Charles Perrier at the Dance Collection . . .” In keeping with our new president’s educational initiative the Dance Division continues to assist educational institutions to offer tours with demonstrations and screenings by staff. This year staff members gave tours to 22 classes totaling 282 people from middle school, college, dance studios and one for LPA volunteers, almost double 4 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 the numbers from recent years. And, in an effort to promote the Division to the public, the Dance Division has created a Facebook page and our staff members have begun blogging. With its new digital initiatives, The New York Public Library has made great strides in building a Trusted Repository that can store preservation digital files and their surrogates, migrate and authenticate them on a regular basis and in creating the underlying infrastructure to connect the files to the metadata and deliver them to the public. To facilitate the delivery of the files, The Library has signed with a secure video delivery company and the Dance Division is in the process of creating the H.264 files that will be uploaded so they can be delivered in a variety of file types that various computers and software programs can play. This means that the public will be able to access the files by clicking on a link directly from the catalog record either at the Library’s computers and viewing stations in the viewing room or online for those materials that we have the right to show without restrictions on the web. Among the videos that will be available on the Internet will be the four hundred hours of video from the Kingdom of Bhutan and the Khmer Dance Project interviews with Cambodian dancers. Another example of the integration of the Library’s departments, the Development Office has been working with the Dance Division for its funding needs. As large collections arrive, Development works to find the funding. The Development Office will need to raise more than $600,000 to process and preserve the Cunningham Archive and the Baryshnikov Archive. As it takes years to process this much material, we hope to have the funding soon so these collections will be more quickly available. The Development Office, with the assistance of the Committee for the Dance Division and the Friends of the Dance Division, completed raising the matching funds of $250,000 for the challenge grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In addition, the Development Office is working with the Dance Division on the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation grant to create a system for delivering digital video files to the reading room and on the Internet when rights are cleared to do so. As part of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Grant, the Preservation Unit began preserving videotapes from the Dance Division’s recordings, which at the time they were recorded were on industry standard tapes that are now obsolete. So far, while continuing its ongoing preservation of incoming materials, the Preservation Unit has preserved 162 camera originals from New York City Ballet's Balanchine Celebration from 1993 and 78 camera originals from 1990 performances during the New York City Ballet's Festival of Jerome Robbins' Ballets. The Jerome Robbins Dance Division continues to face the increasing challenges that the rest of the world's archives and research libraries face, which affect the entire dance community. The most crucial of these issues is how to acquire, preserve, and make accessible the enormous quantity of materials that are generated in today’s world. Some of the solutions include funding for staff and lab costs; funding for the space to store the materials; discovering and funding the new technologies that could help alleviate some of the space and storage costs; and finally resolving some of the rights issues involved in making materials more accessible. This past year, the Rights and Permissions Office provided the Dance Division with two law interns, Rachel Bandli and Eduardo Villalta. They have been scanning the release forms for over 40 years of our original documentations. They are adding information gleaned from the releases into a rights spreadsheet which will be of great help to the Rights and Permissions Office to determine what materials can be made available Library‐wide, and also on the web. In addition to the scanning project, they are re‐examining our current release forms to suggest ways of updating them for future recordings. The very unglamorous but essential work of collection management has increased with the amount of materials added each year and now the enormous amount getting processed. Finding space for newly acquired materials and newly processed materials requires a considerable amount of thought, planning and moving of other materials to make room for the new. Space is always an issue in Manhattan, especially for a comprehensive, global archive of dance. The Jerome Robbins Dance Division continued to supply materials for Library exhibitions as well as exhibitions in other institutions. We participated in a number of public programs here at the Library for the Performing Arts and continued to clear rights to loan materials, including providing copies of 57 videotapes to researchers and rights 5 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 owners for their own archives, for screenings or for use in documentaries, subject to permissions. The Division also loaned photographs and artworks to other institutions’ exhibitions. The Dance Division’s ongoing relationships and interdependence with outside and support organizations have continued and blossomed. These include relationships with Khmer Dance Project, Dance Heritage Coalition and Core of Culture. The Dance Division is especially grateful to its support organizations, the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. The Jerome Robbins Dance Division also continued its ongoing relationship with the Jerome Robbins Foundation through the latter’s Trustee Allen Greenberg, a member of the Committee for the Dance Division. And finally, in step with the Library’s move to working interdependently among its departments, so has the Library for the Performing Arts been working interdependently in a global capacity. This year Jacqueline Z. Davis, the Barbara G. and Lawrence A. Fleischman Executive Director of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, was awarded the 2011 Interdependence Prize by CivWorld at Dēmos. The prize is awarded annually to an advocate who is deeply engaged in the work of Interdependence, and Ms. Davis received the award for her role as an “arts curator, cultural administrator, civic leader and intrepid fighter for interdependence in which artists and citizens alike cooperate across borders to achieve a humane and peaceful world for all.” Past winners include: Harry Belafonte, musician and Civil Rights activist; Adam Michnik, co‐founder of the Polish opposition movement Solidarność (Solidarity); and Tavis Smiley, American Talk Show Host, Commentator, Entrepreneur and Philanthropist. 1.3 Mission statement The Jerome Robbins Dance Division connects artists, scholars and dance lovers to the world of movement. Our commitment is to preserve and provide free access to our unequaled collections of resources, ranging from multi‐
camera recordings of dance performances to rare manuscripts. As the active memory of the dance community, the Dance Division honors the past and offers inspiration for the future. The mission of The New York Public Library is to inspire lifelong learning, advance knowledge, and strengthen our communities. 1.4 Size of the collection Format books photographic prints and negatives reels of film and videotape linear feet of manuscripts performance programs lithographs and engravings scenic and costume designs and artworks linear feet of clippings subscriptions to dance periodicals indexed magazine articles/reviews oral history titles scrapbooks microfilm/fiche Total size FY 11 Added in FY 12 Total size FY 12 43,460*
591 44,051
345,323
691 346,014
63,031
1,690 64,721
2,376
348.99 2,724.99
113,194
880 114,074
6,447
1,066 7,513
2,753
1,650 4,403
301.4
7.6 309
131
1 132
103,285
0 103,285
3,249
231 3,480
1,082
5 1,087
3,116
0 3,116
* 20,000 books were added in fiscal 2010‐11 to correct for early discrepancy. A search on Dance on Disk (which can search for books) gives this more accurate number of 43,000 books. 6 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 2. ACTIVITIES 2.1 Collection development and notable acquisitions Under the leadership of Curator Jan Schmidt, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division collects materials in both paper‐
based forms and moving image records. With the previous Assistant Curator Charles Perrier and his replacement Danielle Castronovo, the division works to acquire, conserve, catalog, arrange, and often loan out materials, such as manuscripts, photographs, programs, art works and designs. The Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image, under the directorship of Tanisha Jones, collects, preserves, arranges, catalogs and maintains film, videotape and digital files and tapes. The Moving Image Archive also includes the Oral History Project, led by Susan Kraft, and the original documentations of dance works on videotape, film and digital files led by Daisy Pommer. Many collections come in with both moving image and paper‐based materials, including the two largest collections received this fiscal year, the MIkhail Baryshnikov Archive and the Merce Cunningham Collection. 
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ACQUISITIONS OF LARGE COLLECTIONS OF BOTH MOVING IMAGE AND PAPER‐BASED MATERIALS Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive The Jerome Robbins Dance Division was delighted to announce that on July 14, 2011, Mikhail Baryshnikov, one of the most celebrated dancers of the Twentieth Century, donated his archive to The New York Public Library. This collection of papers and videotapes documents Mikhail Baryshnikov’s multifaceted American career and includes nearly 600 videotapes documenting his ballet years, solo projects, commercial projects, and his seminal work with White Oak Dance Project from 1990 to 2002. This archive also includes over ten boxes of paper materials, including press, photographs, programs, scrapbooks and touring documentation. Together, the papers and the videotapes are the record of his career from his own collection of materials. Baryshnikov’s artistry is and will be a critical part of dance scholarship, and the Baryshnikov Paper and Moving Image Archive will be essential in further cultivating dance education. The Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division hosted an event to celebrate this donation. A private reception and program with clips from the collection was held at the Bruno Walter Auditorium on November 1, 2011 at 6:30pm. It was the first public press announcement of the gift. Mikhail Baryshnikov in Jerome Robbins’ Other Dances Photo by Martha Swope Mikhail Baryshnikov in George Balanchine’s Apollo Photo by Carolyn George Mikhail Baryshnikov Photo by Kenn Duncan 7 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Bridget Smith, Assistant General Counsel, NYPL Ann Thornton, Acting Andrew W. Mellon Director of The New York Public Libraries, Mikhail Baryshnikov Annual Report FY 2012 Mikhail Baryshnikov 
Merce Cunningham Foundation Collection In 1999, the Merce Cunningham Foundation and The New York Public Library signed a deed for the acquisition of the papers, audiotapes, films and videotapes from Merce Cunningham. The first shipments were received soon after and have been processed, preserved and cataloged by the Library. This included 84 boxes of papers and 548 new titles of film and video with 948 reels. Merce Cunningham died on July 26, 2009. Soon after, the company went on its legacy tour to great acclaim around the world. Following the wishes of Merce Cunningham, the Company and the Foundation dissolved themselves and shipped the rest of the materials to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. This included some 2,000 to 3,000 more films and videotapes, many of which have been digitized; the choreographic notes, which have been already cataloged by the Library; the Dance Capsules, which have been digitized; and another 80 to 100 boxes of papers, manuscripts, touring information, programs and photographs. The Foundation is pioneering digital “Dance Capsules” to preserve key works from the Cunningham repertory, so that future generations can study and perform these dances with the knowledge of how they originally came to life. Each Dance Capsule is a digital package containing complete documentation of a Cunningham work, including performance videos, sound recordings, lighting plots, décor images, costume design, production notes, and interviews with dancers and artistic staff. Merce Cunningham Photograph by Annie Leibovitz, 1997 Merce Cunningham in Letter To The World Choreographed by Martha Graham Photograph by Barbara Morgan Jerry Ames Archive. The Dance Division acquired the Jerry Ames Archive in December 2011. Patrick Spencer, executor of Estate of Jerry Ames, signed a Deed of Gift, and Leslie Getz and Don McDonagh organized the archive of Jerry Ames, American tap dancer, who died February 7, 2011. Don McDonagh is a well known critic from The New York Times. Leslie Getz is his wife and a writer for Ballet Review and Dance Critics Association. For decades Mr. Ames performed as a tap soloist on stages in New York and around the world. In 1980, he was a featured performer in the movie Tap Dancin' by Christian Blackwood. “But Mr. Ames was sufficiently immersed in the black stream — and sufficiently esteemed by his black colleagues — that he was the only white dancer on the bill for the Tap Happenings, a series of jam sessions in New York in 1969.” (NY Times Margalit Fox, February 16, 2011) The 8 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Archive consists of 4 cartons, 2 brief cases and several posters. The cartons and briefcases contain about 60 videotapes, photographs, reviews, and programs from around the world. Duplicates have been removed. Some of the videotapes are of tap dance performances and classes in Russia and Germany. 
May O’Donnell and Ray Green Collection. The May O’Donnell‐Ray Green Foundation donated a collection that includes 38 boxes of papers, 25 boxes of scores, 730 audiotapes, 220 videotapes, 7 films and 3 scrapbooks. The President of the Foundation is Norton Owen, archivist of Jacob’s Pillow and long‐term friend and donor of important collections to the Dance Division. May O’Donnell was a modern dancer and choreographer who danced with many significant dance groups, including Martha Graham Dance Company and José Limón Dance Company. O'Donnell was also an important teacher who counted Robert Joffrey, Ben Vereen, and Gerald Arpino among her students. In 1974 the May O'Donnell Concert Dance Company was formed. O’Donnell died in Manhattan at the age 97 in 2004. Ray Green was her husband who predeceased her. May O’Donnell’s original dance technique influenced generations of modern dancers. Ray Green was a prolific composer and an original founder of the American Music Center. The collection contains unique original manuscripts of Green and likely other composers and a large amount of original correspondence from notables such as Aaron Copland, Wallingford Riegger and Carl Ruggles. 
Howarth Gurdjieff Archive, Gift of the Estate of Dushka Howarth and the Gurdjieff Heritage Society, Inc. The Howarth Gurdjieff Archive documents the physical movements done to commissioned music that are connected to the philosophy of Dushka Howarth’s father G. I. Gurdjieff. The evolution of these set movements is documented in Howarth’s collection and she herself was a teacher and proselytizer of the movements. The movements are documented in writing, photographs and other graphic materials, and video and audio recordings. The Gurdjieff Movements is the name given to the collective body of sacred dances that were collected or authored by G. I. Gurdjieff, purportedly based upon traditional dances that Gurdjieff studied as he traveled throughout Central Asia, India, Tibet, the Orient and Africa where he encountered various Indo‐
European and Sufi Orders, Buddhist centers, and other sources of traditional culture and learning. This is a significant addition to the Dance Division because of the importance of G. I. Gurdjieff and the uniqueness of the materials. This collection includes approximately: 9 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 54 Binders with movements, music, choreography, and Jasmine Howarth’s writings 100 Movement Related videotapes 400 audiotapes, includes classes, Gurdjieff’s voice, music, and teaching tapes 65 CDs on the writings; 70 CDs of music and classes 200 photographs 12 LP albums, including Gurdjieff’s collaborator, composer Thomas de Hartmann 25 linear feet of paper, which include correspondence, writings, oversize sketches of movements, copies of the digitized materials, and address books 
Janis Brenner Archive. Janis Brenner, a Bessie award‐winning dancer, choreographer, singer, teacher and Artistic Director of the New York‐based dance company Janis Brenner & Dancers, has donated her archive to the Dance Division. The Janis Brenner Archive consists of 2 boxes of personal papers and programs, numerous posters, 175 photographs, 68 videotapes and a few audio items. Her papers and videotapes reflect her long career in modern dance. She was a soloist with the Murray Louis Dance Company from 1977‐1984 and performed with Meredith Monk and the Vocal Ensemble from 1990‐2005.  JEROME ROBBINS DANCE DIVISION PAPER‐BASED MATERIALS ACQUISITIONS Under the supervision of the Curator Jan Schmidt, with the direction of Assistant Curator Charles Perrier, followed by Assistant Curator Danielle Castronovo, acquisitions of manuscripts, books, programs, and photographs also continued at a rapid rate. This year was especially striking, as the Division was without an Assistant Curator when Charles Perrier retired in February, until Danielle Castronovo was hired in May. Most materials are donated, but a few are purchased, mostly with funds provided by The Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. PAPER‐BASED ACQUISITIONS, GIFTS: Historical Society of Woodstock The donation of one box from Historical Society of Woodstock about Alexis Kosloff, early 20th century dancer/teacher/choreographer who was Russian trained but moved to England and later the United States where he ran a successful dance school and wrote on ballet technique. The collection was received in November 2011 and includes photographs, correspondence, press clippings, and programs. Edith Segal materials Shari Segal Goldberg donated two boxes of materials on her aunt Edith Segal which includes press clippings, music, choreographic notes and scripts, correspondence, two video recordings, and Ethyl/Julius Rosenberg album. Judith Brin Ingber donated Felix Fibich papers Yiddish dancer Felix Fibich’s papers are comprised of three boxes of photographs, some correspondence, choreographic notes, programs, and writings. Monica Moseley papers Monica Moseley was the former Assistant Curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. This donation, received after her death in January 2010, is three linear feet and contains family and personal papers and photographs, project materials, and two albums. Susan Bindig gift of Wendy Hilton papers One box of the papers of Wendy Hilton, including photos, programs, fliers, articles, letters, and miscellaneous items were donated by Susan Bindig. These papers were given to Susan Bindig to complete the memoir that she and Wendy Hilton were writing, Wendy Hilton: A Life in Baroque Dance and Music. Janet Morse papers Gift of Janet Morse includes a memoir, photographs, and press materials on American Ballet Theatre and Metropolitan Opera Ballet. 10 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Sarah Mann research materials Karen Cowan donated one box of Sarah Mann’s research materials on Loïe Fuller. Anne Bass scrapbook on Suzanne Farrell Anne H. Bass donated a scrapbook of press clippings about Suzanne Farrell. Madeleine Leweck collection Luisa Agnini Field donated her mother Madeleine Leweck’s collection of black and white photographs of dancers and assorted programs and magazines. Oscar and Marya Stein donated materials of Lola Menzeli and Senia Solomonoff Oscar and Marya Stein donated two boxes of scrapbooks, papers and photographs of Marya Stein’s parents, who were internationally known ballet dancers in the early 1900s. Her mother performed under the name Lola Girlie and later with her father as Lola Menzeli and Senia Solomonoff. Also included is a scrapbook of Elizabetta Menzeli, dancer, choreographer and Lola Menzeli’s teacher, born in 1898. Included are the designs for Lola Menzeli’s unique toe shoes. The materials were appraised by Gordon Hollis at $8,900. Anne Bass donated in November 2011, the hand written score for Steve Reich’s 3 Movements with choreographic notes by Benjamin Millepied for dance of the same name. It also contained costume designs. Samuel Peabody Donation On November 16, 2011, Samuel Peabody donated four drawings by Rouben Ter‐Arutunian and one belt worn by Rouben Ter‐Arutunian, gift of Judith and Samuel Peabody. The four drawing are: Voluntaries set design for DTH 1984, inscribed for Judy Peabody; Tales from Vienna Woods set design NYCB 1977, inscribed for Judy; Nutcracker, set design NYCB 1964 Snow Forest for Judy; costume unicorn 6/1970 inscribed for Judy and Sam. On May 4, 2012, Samuel Peabody donated another set design by Rouben Ter‐Arutunian of Pelléas and Mélisande, gift of Judith and Samuel Peabody. 11 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Original drawing by Rouben Ter‐Arutunian of Voluntaries Original set design by Rouben Ter‐Arutunian of Pelléas for Dance Theatre of Harlem, 1984 and Mélisande Gift of Judith and Samuel Peabody. Gift of Judith and Samuel Peabody. PAPER‐BASED ACQUISITIONS, PURCHASES: Purchased with funds from the Committee for the Dance Division With funds generously contributed by the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, and in consultation with the Committee's Chair Elizabeth O’Brien and Committee member Hubert Goldschmidt, the Dance Division purchased: Susanne Schulz‐Falster Rare Books In May 2012, the Dance Division purchased from Susanne Schulz‐Falster Rare Books one 1751 and three 1801 German books by an anonymous author, with funds from Dance Committee Special Acquisitions fund. Gewagter Einhalt des unehrbaren Tantzens from 1751 is the first and apparently only edition of a rare work on the moral dangers of dancing. The anonymous author, according to the title page a preacher, outlines the dangers of dancing—raising skirts, bare legs, license to touch and thus temptation. Additional purchases from various vendors with funds from the Committee for the Dance Division One of three Paris Exhibition costume plates by E. Mesples in “Costumes of the modern stage” Dramatis Personae Danzas Argentinas (Argentine One of three unidentified costume dances) Plates by Aurora de Pietro; designs for a 20th century production (probably Russian). J&J Lubrano Music and text by Carlos Vega J&J Lubrano 12 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Engraving by Mathäus Küsel for Antonio Cesti’s opera Il Pomo d’Oro [1667?] J&J Lubrano Intermedi de’ balli fatti per le nozze del signor Giangiorgio Cesarini … Macerata, Pietro Salvioni, 1616. Macerata, Pietro Salvioni, 1616. Purchased with Dance Committee funds on June 8 2012, from Libreria Antiquaria Mediolanum 28 leaves; rebound in 18th century marbled paper boards. This is a very scarce first and only edition, written on the occasion of the wedding Cesarini‐Caetani. A great show ‐ including ballets, theatrical dramas inspired by the ancient tradition of classics, and music playing ‐ was performed in Macerata (Central Italy): Argonautica, Parnassus with Apollo and Muses, Venus and Jupiter. The peculiarity of this magnificent celebration consisted in adopting the ballets as “intermezzi” for the general piece, which was then characterized by different sections accompanied by music and texts, exactly as it happens in a modern opera. This is important because the première of Eurydice – the first modern opera of the so‐called “recitar cantando” – was performed in Florence only sixteen years before this celebration: it is then really remarkable that in a little provincial town, not involved in the most famous centers of Italian culture of the time, they chose to perform music, dramas, and ballets in a single great show. Concerning this, not surprisingly, in the preface of the book Rinuccini and his Florentine Eurydice are mentioned as a precise reference. Purchases 2012 at Auctions with funds from Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division In an unprecedented occurrence, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division participated in four auctions in a couple of weeks, successfully bidding on all items. As Hubert Goldschmidt wrote, this is the first time in over 20 years that he has seen important Ballets Russes material at reasonable prices. Curator Jan Schmidt worked with Hubert Goldschmidt to see that the Division purchased these items. Hubert Goldschmidt, Chairman of the Acquisitions Committee, identified four auctions at which ballet items were being sold in March 2012. Three of these sales were not ballet auctions. The process for these purchases began with identifying ballet materials in these sales by studying the catalogs and viewing the items in person whenever possible. Hubert Goldschmidt and Curator Jan Schmidt selected the important items for the Dance Division and suggested maximum bid limits for each of the lots. The bids were then approved by the Dance Committee’s Acquisition Committee and Library’s Collection Strategy. It should be pointed out that the Dance Division was successful on all their bids and we are delighted with the results below.  Hôtel des Ventes de Genève on March 13, 2012. Through Gordon Hollis of Golden Legend the Dance Division bid at the auction of the Collection Lillian Ahlefeldt & Serge Lifar, at Hôtel des Ventes de Genève. With Dance Committee funds and Dance Committee Acquisitions Committee assistance, we purchased two lots. 13 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 This portrait of Maximilien Gardel (1741‐1787) is a miniature round in gouache on ivory mounted on a box in tortoise‐shell and circle next to a strip of gold bearing the names of Ballets in which Gardel has performed. Dancer and choreographer, Gardel was director of the Ballet in Paris (1781‐1787) and is shown dancing without masks or wigs in 1772 in Castor and Pollux of Rameau to differentiate themselves in his rival Gaétan Vestris diam. 8 Cm Lot Number 504 was purchased for hammer price 3200 Swiss Francs. Christian Jacques Bérard (1902‐1949), Symphonie fantastique, Scène I et Scène IV, paire de gouaches sur papier, 22.5x31.5 cm. Inscriptions manuscrites au verso: Coll. Serge Lifar Porte le tampon de la collection Lifar au verso. Lot number 538 
Brissonneau Auction in Paris on March 23, 201. Hubert Goldschmidt bid in person on behalf of the Dance Division at the Brissonneau Auction. The Dance Committee purchased the George Barbier drawing of Sheherazade; original watercolor, signed and dated 1911; 25 x 31 cm . Lot 322. This watercolor may be an imaginative evocation of a Greek‐themed ballet, such as Michel Fokine's Narcisse, produced by the Ballets Russes in June 1911. The costume on the drawing seems to be the same as the one in the other Barbier drawing sold at Christie's, dated 1911. It is possible that the costume drawn by Barbier was abandoned in actual performances. Despite the title, which may not have been given by the artist, the watercolor does not depict Michel Fokine's ballet Scheherazade (1910), which was inspired by Persian miniatures and costumed in turbans and harem pants. Rather, the trappings of Barbier's watercolor evoke the Dionysian revels of ancient Greece: the man is costumed (barely) in a leopard skin with grapes as a head ornament, and carries a thyrsus or pinecone‐topped staff, while the woman's flimsy tunic and frenzied pose suggest a maenad. The drawing shares with Fokine's ballet, however, a sense of orgiastic eroticism. 
Artcurial Auction on March 22, 2012. Hubert Goldschmidt bid in person on behalf of the Dance Division at the Artcurial sale No. 2097, "Art Impressioniste & Moderne". With input from the Dance Committee’s Acquisition Committee and using funds from the Dance Committee we bid on André Dunoyer de Segonzac (1884‐1974) Trois Projets Pour Le Ballet "Le Carnaval De Schumann", 1910. Lot 55 14 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Carnaval de Schumann; signé , titré et Pierrot signé et annoté 10 x 16.5 cm. Carnaval de Schumann; signé, titré et annoté "Le Carnaval de Schumann (3.94 x 6.5 in.); Provenance : daté 1910;17.5 x 23.5 cm. Provenance: Ballet Russe" et daté "Opéra Paris Collection Marina Franca Salz, New Collection Marina Franca Salz, New 1910"; dédicacé '"Pour Marina Sam York (acquis de l'artiste); York (acquis de l'artiste);Expositions : Salz ce Souvenirs de Carnaval à Expositions: Paris, Musée des Arts Paris, Musée des Arts décoratifs, 'Les l'Opera de Paris en 1910 avec tous Décoratifs, 'Les Ballets Russes de Ballets Russes de Diaghilev 1909‐1929', mes voeux pour 1964'";17 x 26.5 cm. Diaghilev 1909‐1929', 1939 n° 209; 1939, n° 208;Edinburgh, The College of (6.7 x 10.43 in.); Provenance : Hempstead, Long Island, Hofstra art, 'The Diaghilev exhibition, 1954, n° Collection Marina Franca Salz, New University; The Emily Lowe Gallery, 385a;Hempstead, Long Island, Hofstra York (cadeau de l'artiste). University; The Emily Lowe Gallery, iaghilev/Cunningham, 1974. Diaghilev/Cunningham, 1974.  Christie’s Paris on April 4 2012. Hubert Goldschmidt bid by telephone on behalf of the Dance Division at the Victor Hugo auction at Christie’s Paris sale. With input from the Dance Committee’s Acquisition Committee and using funds from the Dance Committee, the Dance Division purchased Lot 306, 307 and 315. Valentine Hugo, (1890‐1968), Karsavina in Firebird. pastel on of Dancers'; pencil and color crayon on studies of Karsavina and Nijinsky. paper, three studies of Nijinsky and one pencil on tracing paper; 38 x 27 cm. blue paper; 24.6 x 13 cm. (9 5/8 x 5 1/8 in.) Exhibited Londres, Annely ballerina. 27 x 21 cm. (10 5/8 x 8¼ in.) (14 7/8 x 10 5/8 in.) Lot 307. Juda Fine Art, Theatre, Oct. Nov Lot 306. 1974. Lot 315. Valentine Hugo, (1890‐1968), 'Four Studies Valentine Hugo, (1890‐1968), Nine  JEROME ROBBINS ARCHIVE OF THE RECORDED MOVING IMAGE AND AUDIO ACQUISITIONS The Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image is led by Director Tanisha Jones and supervised by the Division’s curator. Tanisha Jones has continued to acquire, preserve, and make accessible materials about dance from all over the world in all styles. With funding from Rockefeller Brothers Foundation, National Endowment for the Arts, New York State Council on the Arts, The Jerome Robbins Foundation, and the endowment from Jerome Robbins, the Dance Division’s Moving Image Archive has continued to create videotaped records of dance performances and oral history interviews in record numbers. The acquisitions continue to be diverse and comprehensive and the division has been able to process, preserve and catalog these materials using archival best practices. Because of the great care the Moving Image Archive takes with the materials, donors and the dance community have come to rely on the Dance Division to preserve film and video materials, so that they will be available for the future, and to process and catalog them in a manner to facilitate access. The content on the 15 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 videotape can be searched in a number of ways, including dance title, dancers, choreographers, and venue. In addition, the masters can be located for donors, the community of documentary filmmakers and exhibition curators so they can get high resolution materials. With Director Tanisha Jones, the permanent staff members of the Moving Image Archive are Daisy Pommer, producer of Original Documentations and Susan Kraft, producer of the Oral History Project interviews (part‐time). Tanisha Jones came to the Division in July 2007 after completing a master’s degree program in Moving Image Archiving and Preservation at New York University. Daisy Pommer started in the Dance Division in January of 2007 after having spent several years as the archivist, librarian and producer at Thirteen/WNET. She has a Masters from Pratt School of Information and Library Science. Susan Kraft has been coordinator of the Oral History Project since 1993. She has written for a number of publications including MSNBC online and The Staten Island Advance. She has a Masters degree from New York University. Also working on a three‐year grant for the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image with funds from the Jerome Robbins Endowment, was Arlene Yu, specialist for moving images. She began on July 19, 2010. She earned her master’s degree in Information and Library Science from Pratt Institute (in January 2010), with certificates in Museums and Archives, and received a Bachelor's degree in Social Studies from Harvard College. Once again we are indebted to Jerome Robbins for his vision in creating these endowment funds. Arlene has been an invaluable staff member, who has, in addition to her work with collections and footage requests, given many demonstrations to classes from grade schools to graduate schools, created blogs and the Dance Division’s Facebook page, helped with the Baryshnikov exhibition, and worked tirelessly with rights issues. The Dance Division would be thrilled to have her as a permanent staff member of the Dance Division. MOVING IMAGE AND SOUND ACQUISITIONS This past fiscal year, under the leadership of Tanisha Jones, Director of the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image, with the help of the Special Formats Processing Unit and the Library’s Preservation Unit, the Division processed 335 titles, with 1,690 reels of preservation and viewing copies. In addition to these new publicly accessible materials, the Moving Image Archive also acquired roughly 3,000 films, videotapes and digital moving image files that await processing and cataloging by the Special Formats Processing Unit. The Moving Image Archive now has over 23,000 titles and 63,000 reels in its collection. Among the newly processed materials are the Ping Chong and Meredith Monk collections. The Division works with Collections Strategy and the Rights and Clearances Unit to write Curatorial Reviews prior to acquisition and obtain Deeds of Gift for donations. The following is a selection of moving image material acquired by the Jerome Robbins Moving Image Archive in Fiscal Year 2012, most of it donated:  Bates Dance Festival donated six videotapes of performances from their 2010 season including Monica Bill Barnes & Company, July 10, 2010 and Doug Varone and Dancers, July 15, 2010.  Works & Process at the Guggenheim donated 25 videotapes to be added to the hundreds in the collection including American Ballet Theater Season Preview, Larry Keigwin Dance and Lizt Alfonso Dance Cuba.  Performance and video artist Dean Moss donated a DVD of his work, Nameless forest, performed at The Kitchen in New York City on May 27, 2011.  Miro Magloire, Artistic Director of New Chamber Ballet donated three DVDs from the New Chamber Ballet’s 2010‐2011 season.  Hilary Easton, Artistic Director of Hilary Easton + Company, donated 18 videotapes of performance documentation from the late 1980s through 2010 of her dance company.  Filmmaker Christopher Lukas donated a digital copy of his documentary about Lisa deRibere, The Choreographer.  Dina Makaroff donated a DVD of the Russian language documentary film Two Lives celebrating the career of Natalia Makarova.  Nancy Allison donated a DVD of an October 1991 Jean Erdman Theater of Dance program at Festival Mythos in Philadelphia, PA. 16 Jerome Robbins Dance Division 
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Annual Report FY 2012 Filmmaker Virginia Brooks donated over 30 videotapes and films of footage used in her 1990 film Charles Weidman On His Own. Ronald K. Brown Video Archive. Ronald K. Brown is the renowned African‐American choreographer, dancer, and Artistic Director of Evidence/A Dance Company founded by Brown in 1985. This archive, consisting of nearly 200 camera original videotapes of performances, rehearsals and interviews, was donated to The New York Public Library on October 4, 2011 by videographer Robert Penn, who has documented Brown’s work since the late 1990s. The Dance Division’s Original Documentation program has been recording Brown’s works since the early 2000s, and the Moving Image Archive has videos of his works dating from 1990. This rich collection is a valuable complement to the existing Ronald K. Brown videos in the Archive, making it a comprehensive collection of this important artist’s works. Ronald K. Brown Photograph by Julieta Cervantes Ronald K. Brown in "GRACE" Photograph by Basil Childers The following is a selection of audio material donated to the Oral History Archive of the Jerome Robbins Moving Image Archive in Fiscal Year 2012:  16 Cassettes and 1 CD separated from the Irina Baronova Collection, purchased from Victoria Tennant in June, 2011. Includes interviews with Irina Baronova, Anton Dolin, radio show recordings, and recordings of memorial tributes, spanning from 1977‐2005.  1 cassette recording of Margaret Craske Teaching Ballet Class, ca. 1970s. This gift of Pamela Eiselman was preserved by an outside vendor, Spring 2012.  3 cassettes and 25 microcassettes comprising the Tudor Audio Interview Collection, a gift of Judith Chazin‐
Bennahum. Includes interviews with Antony Tudor, Agnes de Mille, Martha Hill, Muriel Topaz, Alicia Markova, and Sallie Wilson, spanning 1986‐1989. Currently in queue for in‐house preservation by the Barbara Goldsmith Preservation Division.  ORIGINAL DOCUMENTATIONS OF DANCE PERFORMANCES AND INTERVIEWS ON VIDEO As part of its original documentation program, led by Moving Image Archive’s producer Daisy Pommer, the Division documented 19 performances and 3 interview or panel discussions during Fiscal Year 2012. The total recordings for the year number 22. Since the Dance Division’s original documentation program began in 1967, 2,504 works and 103 (approximate) interview or panel discussions have been recorded. They ranged across dance styles and were recorded in a wide variety of venues. Following is a list of the recordings created in Fiscal Year 2012:  EIKO & KOMA’s world premiere of Water was recorded in high definition at The Paul Milstein Pool, Hearst Plaza, Lincoln Center. Eiko & Koma were joined by Native American composer and musician Robert Mirabel for this arresting and visually stunning performance. Said Eiko & Koma, “In creating and performing Water, we ‘remember’ these pieces, our movements, different waters, and our desire to repeatedly submerge ourselves in water. In this most urban landscape of midtown Manhattan, we also intend to remember and imagine the ancient water all living things came from and each of us was born from.” The outdoor performance was recorded in high definition video by Charlie Steiner, Vagabond Video, on July 28, 2011. 17 Jerome Robbins Dance Division 
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MARK MORRIS DANCE GROUP. The program featured a New York premiere and two other recent works: Renard, Festival Dance and Socrates. Alastair Macaulay, Chief Dance Critic of The New York Times wrote, “The triple bill by the Mark Morris Dance Group ...moves from simple to complex and from plain entertainment to an astonishingly beautiful and intricate demonstration of genius.”(August 19, 2011). The evening was recorded at The Rose Theater, with two cameras by Mark Robison, Character Generators on August 20, 2011. JOHN KELLY PERFORMANCE. The performance artist revived his Bessie Award winning Find My Way Home, based on the ancient Greek Myth of Orpheus & Eurydice. Kelly set the classic Greek myth in the Great Depression, and recast Orpheus as a famous 30’s radio crooner who makes a pact with the gods and descends into hell to bring Eurydice back to life. The performance was recorded at New York Live Arts with two cameras by Billy Clark, of Culturehub on October 27, 2011. LAR LUBOVITCH DANCE COMPANY. The program included the world premiere of Crisis Variations, set to an original score that commissioned from Yevgeniy Sharlat. The music was performed live by Le Train Bleu ensemble. Also included on the program was revival of Dvorak Serenade from 2007, as well as a reprise of the premiere from last season, The Legend of Ten. Brian Siebert of The New York Times wrote, “It must be a pleasure to dance the choreography of Lar Lubovitch. To yield appropriately to beautiful music, secure in the hands of a master craftsman who will never let you look less than attractive…” (November 11, 2011). The matinee performance was recorded at Baryshnikov Arts Center with two cameras by Peter Richards on November 20, 2011. ALVIN AILEY AMERICAN DANCE THEATER. The new works program included the company premiere of Paul Taylor’s masterpiece, Arden Court; Takademe, a work by the newly appointed Artistic Director Robert Battle, with live music by Naren Budhakar; the company premiere of Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16; and the New York premiere of Rennie Harris’ Home¸ to commemorate World AIDS Day and in memory of Ailey. Said Brian Siebert, “…the Ailey dancers are marvelous in ‘Arden Court’…Score one for Mr. Battle.” (The New York Times, December 1, 2011). The evening was recorded in high definition at New York City Center with three cameras by Robert Sheppard, on December 16, 2011. Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater with Artistic Director Robert Battle and Associate Artistic Director Masazumi Chaya. Photo by Andrew Eccles 
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Annual Report FY 2012 KEELY GARFIELD DANCE. Garfield’s critically acclaimed Twin Pines was recorded at Danspace Project, St. Marks Church‐in‐the‐Bowery. Garfield describes the dance as “part real, part arboreal...a moving meditation on what happens and what does not.” Claudio La Rocco, dance critic for The New York Times wrote “…[Garfield] seems to have flung open the doors to some wild inner room of the imagination. How delicious it is to peer into this space, where fairy tale, domestic satire, dark humor and the absurd jostle uneasily.” (November 1, 2010). The performance was recorded in high definition by Peter Richards on January 20, 2012. DAVID DORFMAN DANCE. The New York premiere of Dorfman’s latest work, Prophets of Funk was recorded at The Joyce Theater in New York City. The evening‐length features Sly and the Family Stone’s boundary‐crossing music, exploring the struggles and celebration of everyday people. Said Emeri Fetzer of Dancepulp.com, “Moving to a favorite song is second nature for most. And for David Dorfman, in the case of Sly and the Family Stone, this impulse is the departure point for a dance‐throwback that not only invokes a full‐body experience of funk music but also the particular impact of the band’s legacy. As a result, ‘Prophets of Funk’ lands as a celebration of an era–but one that doesn’t overlook its complexities.” (1/27/2012). The piece featured 18 Jerome Robbins Dance Division 
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Annual Report FY 2012 performances by Kyle Abraham, Meghan Bowden, David Dorfman, Luke Gutgsell, Renuka Hines, Raja Kelly, Kendra Portier, Jenna Riegel, Karl Rogers, and Whitney Lynn Tucker, and was recorded in high definition by Peter Richards on January 26, 2012. FROM THE STREETS, FROM THE CLUBS, FROM THE HOUSES. In this program, for Danspace Project’s PLATFORM PARALLELS series, curator Ishmael Houston‐Jones asked choreographers Darrell Jones, Niall Noel Jones, Nicholas Leichter, and Regina Rocke to create work that reflects the history of hip hop, voguing, and other forms of black social dance, within the structure of a formal dance performance. The dances, Boy Troubles, forget it, Twenty and Hoo‐Ha were recorded in high definition by Mark Robison, Character Generators on February 26, 2012. SARAH MICHELSON’s Devotion Study #1—The American Dance. This commission marked the first time dance was included in the Whitney Biennial art exhibition. An entire floor of the museum was converted into a performance space. A rigorous meditation on dance, art, architecture and beauty, Devotion Study #1 was both hard to watch, and hard to turn away. Said Andrew Boynton of The New Yorker, ”after seeing these people achieve the extraordinary feat of stamina and sheer will that we’d just witnessed, the devotion that seemed most apparent was theirs to the task at hand, and to dance.” (3/9/2012). Recorded in high definition at The Whitney Museum of American Art, by Mark Robison, Character Generators, on March 7, 2012. STEPHEN PETRONIO COMPANY. The Stephen Petronio Company unveiled the world premiere of The Architecture of Loss, a work exploring the difficulties of navigating the complexities of modern life. The work combined Petronio's choreography with the music of Valgeir Sigurdsson and composer Nico Muhly, visual elements by Rannva Kunoy, the fashion designs of Gudrun & Gudrun, and the lighting of Ken Tabachnick. The evening also included City of Twist, a 2002 collaboration with Laurie Anderson and cutting edge fashion designer Tara Subkoff, and examines the aftermath of 9/11. The program also included Ethersketch I, performed by New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan, marking her first foray into modern dance. The first revival of Intravenous Lecture (1970), conceived by Judson legend Steve Paxton and performed by Stephen Petronio, rounded out the program. Recorded in high definition at The Joyce Theater, by Mark Robison, Character Generators, on March 9, 2012. NORA CHIPAUMIRE AND OKWUI OKPOKWASILI. Two Bessie Award‐winners Nora Chipaumire and Okwui Okpokwasili created new work for this shared evening as part of Danspace’s celebrated PLATFORM: PARALLELS series curated by Ishmael Houston‐Jones. Recalling her childhood explorations into sex and promiscuity growing up in the Bronx, Okpokwasili’s new work Bronx Gothic tells a story using song and movement. Chipaumire’s work, The Last Heifer, is a solo work that questions the meaning of beauty and womanhood in Zimbabwean culture. Both performers participate in a post show talk back with Artist Wangechi Mutu. Recorded in high definition by Peter Born at Danspace Project, St. Marks Church‐in‐the‐
Bowery, on March 16, 2012. REGGIE WILSON. theRevisitation is the simple and intricate exercise of looking back to look forward. It is a reexamination of the artist’s moving body and his provocative body of work and includes four pieces: INTRODUCTION, a solo performed by Wilson; the duet, a newly choreographed duet that recycles movement from Wilson’s past duet works; Big BRICK: a man’s piece, a quartet for four men; and a vocal suite. Said New York Times critic Claudia La Rocco, “Some nights a critic’s job feels impossibly good and divinely difficult: how even to begin to get at, through words, the quicksilver, complex art you’ve just experienced? What to say to readers, other than ‘Please stop reading and purchase a ticket for this show’.” (March 16, 2012). Recording included a post show talk back with Ralph Lemon. Recorded in high definition by Nel Shelby on March 16, 2012, at New York Live Arts. HEAT WAVE: THE JACK COLE PROJECT. Jack Cole was a pioneering Jazz and Musical Theatre choreographer. He taught Alvin Ailey, Gwen Verdon, Marge and Gower Champion and Mitzi Gaynor and was an inspiration for the work of Bob Fosse and Jerome Robbins. Conceived and directed by Chet Walker, creator of the Tony© Award‐winning Best Musical Fosse, HEAT WAVE: The Jack Cole Project recreated over two dozen film and theatre Cole numbers. The show also featured dance works created in the style of Cole. Recorded in high definition by Johannes Holub on May 16, 2012, at Queens Theatre. LUCIANA ACHUGAR. Bessie Award winner Luciana Achugar’s newest work, FEELingpleasuresatisfactioncelebrationholyFORM, features four women engaging in a psychedelia inspired kaleidoscope that multiplies their experience and reflects both rigorous formalism and corporeal excess. The 19 Jerome Robbins Dance Division 
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Annual Report FY 2012 evening length work was recorded in high definition by Peter Richards on May 17, 2012, at the Abrons Arts Center, Henry Street Settlement. AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE. The Bright Stream is ABT’s resident choreographer Alexei Ratmansky’s inventive screwball comedy, adapted from a 1935 Shostakovich score and libretto. The New York Times’ critic Brian Seibert called the American Ballet Theatre production ”effervescent” and went on to write, “Mr. Ratmansky and Ballet Theater make everything fresh. Much of the humor comes from the funny things the choreographer hears in the music; American jazz moves have reached this part of the Caucasus. The score is eminently danceable, and Mr. Ratmansky responds with a bumper crop of dance ideas without ever letting the plot drag.” (5/30/2012). The production starred ABT principal dancers Gillian Murphy, David Hallberg, Paloma Herrera and Marcelo Gomes. Recorded in high definition by Jay Millard, Harmill Communications, Inc., at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 29, 2012. BURR JOHNSON. Emerging choreographer Burr Johnson presented two works: Shimmering Islands, a duet for Johnson and Maggie Cloud, which explored the representation of male/female relationships in dance. The second work is a quartet called Special Collections, where the two gender groups play off one another in a series of repeated movements. The evening was recorded in high definition by Peter Richards at Danspace Project, June 2, 2012. DANCE CRITICS ASSOCIATION 2012 CONFERENCE. The conference, entitled “21st Century Dance Writing: Multimedia, Multiarts, Multitasking,” began with a keynote panel led by Virginia Johnson, artistic director of the Dance Theatre of Harlem on how changes in the cultural landscape have impacted changes in dance coverage. Other panels during the three day conference explored the state of dance criticism today; dance writing in the digital age; the growth of dance on television, and a closing panel with Alastair Macaulay, Deborah Jowitt, David Vaughan, and Nancy Goldner. Recorded in high definition by Joe Conlon, Nel Shelby Productions at the Joan Weill Center for Dance in New York City, June 22, 23, & 24, 2012. DAVID GORDON’S PICK UP PERFORMANCE CO(S). Beginning of the End of the ...marks David Gordon’s 50th year of creating dance and art. The world premiere work explores the intersection of dance, theater, art and mortality. The piece is based on a short story by Pirandello, “A Character’s Tragedy”, the subsequent play Six Characters in Search of an Author, and a third Pirandello work, “The Man With The Flower in His Mouth.” Gordon’s wife and long‐time collaborator Valda Setterfield performed with him, as well as Gus Solomons, Jr. and Aaron Mattocks, among others. Deborah Jowitt wrote of the experience, “Like all Gordon’s works, this one marches along, wheeling intricately but clearly through space—very word, gesture, and dance step part of a crisp, rhythm that flows along trailing repetitions and interpolations.” Deborah Jowitt (artsjournal.com 6/2012). Recorded in high definition by Johannes Holub, Holub Video, at The Joyce Soho, June 24, 2012. SHANTALA SHIVALINGAPPA. Born in India and raised in Paris, Shantala Shivalingappa combines elements from Southern Indian traditional dance, with a western contemporary dance sensibility. For her Joyce debut, the program entitled Namasya, celebrated her diverse choreographic influences in four solos, including one created by Ushio Amagatsu, Artistic Director of Sankai Juku, as well as a work created during her residency with Pina Bausch. Recorded in high definition by François Bernadi, Contact Productions, at The Joyce Theater, June 28, 2012. As part of this program, the Dance Division, when permissions are cleared, give copies to the companies and choreographers for restaging and promotion. Below is a small sampling of quotes from thank you letters from grateful recipients of the Dance Division’s Original Documentations program: “As a result of the Dance Division recording the [December 16, 2011] program, we now have a multi‐
camera, professionally edited document of the world premiere of Home. The other works documented were Arden Court, Takademe, and Minus 16. These archival videotapes are essential research tools for students and historians who may go to the Dance Division to view the performances. The recording we received from the Dance Division is an invaluable tool which will be used for restaging the work, and teaching and passing on choreography to other dancers and students.” ‐ Calvin Hunt, Senior Director of Performance & Production, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater “On behalf of John Kelly Performance, I would like to take this opportunity to formally thank the Jerome Robbins Dance Division for recording our production of ‘Find My Way Home’ at New York Live Arts in 20 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 November of 2011. We are particularly honored to have this pivotal work included in this important collection...As a result of the Dance Division recording the program, we now have a multi‐camera, professionally edited document of “Find My Way Home’, a work that will most likely never receive another production.” John Kelly, Choreographer, John Kelly Performance “The video we received from the library [of Devotion Study #1—The American Dance] is of excellent quality and has served the company in many ways. The value of having a high quality, professionally recorded and edited video of wide and tight angles of the company’s work is of the utmost importance for the company. Visual examples of our work are requirements for funding from both private and government foundations, and are also used in final grant reports. Archival video also serves as a primary tool for booking future commissions and presentations as well as for press purposes.” Barbara Bryan, Producing Director, Sarah Michelson, Inc.  ORAL HISTORY PROJECT The Dance Oral History Project, led by Susan Kraft, has continued its work as the leading project of its kind in the nation. Fiscal year 2011‐2012 was another exceptional year for both the depth and quality of oral histories added to the archive. This year the Project recorded seven new oral histories, most in multiple sessions, with a wide variety of dance professionals. The interviews described below were recorded over some twelve sessions total and add extremely valuable primary source material. These interviews expand the Archive’s collection of primary source material in a broad range of artists and topics. Funding from the National Endowment for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts made these new interviews possible. Cassie Mey was hired part‐time to supervise the preservation of the Oral History Archive materials for the NYSCA grant. The interviews recorded this fiscal year include:  Loretta Abbott, a dancer, actress, singer, choreographer, and teacher has been performing since the age of two. Her numerous credits range from worldwide concert stage appearances with prominent dance companies to film and television roles. She has worked with Alvin Ailey, Paul Sanasardo, Carmen de Lavallade and many others. Among her films credits are Gene Wilder/Richard Pryor's See No Evil Hear No Evil. Ms. Abbott tours with her own solo program Women of Color. She has worked with the Avodah Dance Ensemble for seven years and helped create their seminal work "Let My People Go." This interview was recorded in one session on May 29 by Jill Williams.  Martin Koenig, a nationally known teacher of Balkan dance, has taught in leading universities, local community programs, folk festivals, and many other venues throughout the United States, Canada, and Europe since 1966. He is a leading supporter of, and advocate for, community‐based traditional arts, and an authority on European ethnic dance traditions. He was a Labonotation student of Maria Szentpal, of Budapest, Hungary, from 1967 to 1968, and from 1967 to 1990, was an Effort / Shape Movement Analysis student of Irmgard Bartenieff of the Dance Notation Bureau. Martin worked with Melvene Dyer‐Bennet of New York on a Human Motility Study from 1973 to 1979. This two part interview was conducted by Joan Arnold and recorded in the morning and afternoon of May 4, 2012.  David Gordon is a dancer, choreographer, writer, actor and theatrical director prominent in the world of postmodern dance and performance. Based in New York City, Gordon created The Pick Up Performance Company in 1978 and has performed throughout Europe, Asia, South America and across the United States introducing audiences to work that unites theater and dance in new ways. Gordon has also received numerous commissions from major ballet and modern dance companies such as American Ballet Theatre, Dance Theatre of Harlem, Extemporary Dance Theatre of London, Groupe de Recherche Choréographique de l’Opéra de Paris and White Oak Dance Project. His interviews were conducted on June 4 and 6 by Gia Kourlas.  Valda Setterfield is a dancer and actress noted for her work as a soloist with the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and her performances in the work of her husband, David Gordon. Setterfield has also appeared with the improvisational dance company, The Grand Union, and in the works of Katherine Litz, Yvonne Rainer, and Robert Wilson. In 1984 she received a New York Dance and Performance Award (Bessie). She was featured artist in WNET/PBS Dance in America’s Beyond The Mainstream and in 1987 costarred with Mikhail 21 Jerome Robbins Dance Division 
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Annual Report FY 2012 Baryshnikov in Gordon’s Made in USA (WNET/PBS Great Performances.). She was interviewed on June 4 and 11 by Deborah Jowitt. Setterfield/Gordon. Valda Setterfield has been described as Gordon's "muse". Ain Gordon is their son. He has also collaborated on and participated in a number of their works. This three‐part conversation, led by Ain on June 11, is a deep look at the nature of their collaborative intentions and creativity. Marya Warshaw has been the Executive/Artistic Director of BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange (formerly The Gowanus Arts Exchange) since its founding in 1991. In 1998, BAX received a "Bessie" Award for its innovative work creating a house and a true home for the arts in Brooklyn. (She was interviewed on March 19 and 26 by Eva Yaa Asantewaa. Susan Kraft wrote a blog post about this interview: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/04/03/dance‐oral‐history‐marya‐warshaw.) The same interview was also blogged about on Ms. Asantewaa’s site: http://infinitebody.blogspot.com/2012/03/interviewing‐marya‐
warshaw‐for‐nypl.html Christine Wright joined the Lar Lubovitch Dance Company when she was only 18 years old. Eventually she became one of Lubovitch's assistants, helping him set works on the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, the Stuttgart Ballet, and the Washington Ballet, among others. She has also worked with the Elisa Monte Dance Company, Blondell Cummings, Ohad Naharin, and Zvi Gotheiner. For the past 24 years she has taught ballet to some of New York’s greatest dance artists. Her oral history interviews were conducted on May 11 and 18 by Deborah Jowitt. In another exciting development, the Oral History staff members are developing a web page in which to post excerpts and highlights both from the interviews created by the Division and historical audio materials donated to the collection. This site is expected to go live in September 2012.  SPEAKING OF DANCING, ANNE BASS ORAL HISTORY PROJECT In March, 2011, Imogen Smith was hired part‐time to coordinate the oral history project Speaking of Dancing, which was made possible by a gift from Anne Bass in 2007. The project, working collaboratively with the Dance Division’s ongoing Oral History Project, has created a group of new oral history interviews with dancers, choreographers and critics, around the unifying theme of interpretation in dance. Five new interviews have been recorded, with Karole Armitage, Carolyn Brown, Julie Kent, Kevin McKenzie, and Wendy Whelan. The interviewers have been Deborah Jowitt, Nancy Reynolds and Rose Ann Thom. Three of the interviews were recorded on video. All five interviews have been cataloged by Imogen Smith. Interviews have been scheduled with Ethan Stiefel and Alastair Macaulay, to be recorded in July 2012. Excerpts from the interviews will be posted on the Dance Division’s oral history web page and possibilities are being discussed for a public program at the completion of the project. Three interviews for the project were completed in 2008: with Karin von Aroldingen, Holly Hynes and Lupe Serrano. 2.2 Services to the Public The Jerome Robbins Dance Division presents its public face in the Reading Rooms where Performing Arts Library’s staff answered reference queries for many of the 347,868 visitors to the Performing Arts Library's Lincoln Center facility. This number of visitors is a 36.20% increase over the prior fiscal year. Of these, nearly 28,000 visitors accessed LPA's Research collections last year. The Division reference staff served these researchers in the Reading Room, who consulted nearly 64,000 materials, including papers, manuscripts, books, programs, photographs, videos and films. Daily Reference Statistics show that for reference, instruction, consultations, telephone answers, written responses, and e‐mail services the Division handled nearly 1,000 queries. This number is very small compared to the actual number of services we offer and fulfill, as the statistics gathering is still in the development stage to capture the variety and depth of responses we offer the public. On‐site use of the Moving Image Archive materials included, for example over 2,600 video and audio oral history users from 38 states and 26 countries plus the U.S., accessing nearly 5,000 audiovisual materials, with many other clients using paper‐based items in both the main reading room and the special collections area. In the Special Collection Reading Room alone, the Division reference staff served over 8,000 dance researchers who consulted over 13,000 items, including papers, manuscripts, books, programs, and photographs from the Dance Division. 22 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Researchers from afar usually precede their visits with email requests about access and availability of materials, which sometimes require retrieval of individual items or parts of archival collections from the library's off‐site facility. Patrons this year came from across the United States as well as Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, England, Finland, France, Germany, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Russia, Scotland, Spain, Switzerland, Taiwan, Turkey, and elsewhere. Both paper and photographic collections were used in preparation for public lectures, exhibitions, university theses, and publications. Based on our collections, biographies or profiles of significant personalities both in the dance and other worlds are in preparation, including books and papers on the Bennington School of the Dance, Ruth Page, Odissi dance, Agnes de Mille, Martha Graham, baseball and dance in America, the culture of the Cold War, Lincoln Kirstein, Charles Mee, Teiji Ito, Lee Nagrin, African theatre, and Jewish folklore; as well as films on Tanaquil Le Clercq, Jack Cole, and African American ballerinas. Knowledgeable staff members worked with curators for exhibitions for the Museum of Modern Art, American Museum of Natural History, Dallas Museum of Art, Smith College and Fairfield Museum and History Center. Dance Division staff members also assisted in developing the Performing Arts Library’s exhibition Residue of Eiko & Koma’s work and the Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive exhibit. In addition, Dance Division temporary staff member Arlene Yu curated and produced exhibitions in the Library’s third floor Reading Room on Janet Collins and Loïe Fuller.  TOURS FOR STUDENTS AND NOTABLE USERS Staff also welcomed groups of visitors from schools, universities, dance companies and other organizations. For each visit the staff members tailored the tours for the needs of the variety of groups. They showed the groups particular collection items, giving them an introduction to The New York Public Library, the catalog, and the varied holdings of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. They also provided advice on an array of topics. This year staff members gave tours to 22 classes for 282 people from middle school, college, dance studios and one for LPA volunteers. In recent years the number of classes coming to the Dance Division has increased. This year’s nearly doubled the number from last fiscal year in which staff members hosted 12 classes and 188 students. These tours for students included:  Daisy Pommer and Arlene Yu gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to eight students for Mindy Aloff’s pre‐college class at Barnard College on July 7, 2011.  Charles Perrier gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 3 African‐American students, ages 9‐14 taking part in a summer dance intensive with teachers Nia Love and Marjani Forté, Directors of the LOVE/FORTÉ a collective on July 19, 2011.  Arlene Yu gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 7 (11‐12 year olds) from Rosie’s Theater Kids (ballet group) on August 18, 2011.  Charles Perrier gave a tour and a catalog demonstration to 13 undergraduates of FIT dance history class on October 5, 2011.  Arlene Yu gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 9 high school students of the Gotham Professional Arts Academy class on October 6, 2011.  Tanisha Jones gave a presentation about the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image to the “Access to Moving Image Collections” class of 13 graduate students from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts MIAP Master's degree program on October 17, 2011.  Charles Perrier gave a tour and a catalog demonstration to 23 NYU Steinhardt School of Education Arts Resources graduate dance education students on October 17, 2011.  Daisy Pommer gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 12 graduate students divided into 2 tours from the NYU Institute of Fine Arts graduate school class “Art & Dance” with Professor Linda Nochlin on October 14 and 17, 2011.  Tanisha Jones and Daisy Pommer gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to Professor Marjorie Folkman and 21 of her students from Bard College.  Daisy Pommer gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 16 students from Professor Paul Dennis’ University of Massachusetts at Amherst on November 12, 2011. 23 Jerome Robbins Dance Division 
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Annual Report FY 2012 Daisy Pommer gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to eight students of Michael Blake, Jazz and Contemporary Program Director at The Joffrey Ballet School on November 12, 2011. Daisy Pommer gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with to 5 School of American Ballet students on November 12, 2011. Jan Schmidt spoke to 11 New York University students in Jennifer Homans’ class and then they screened video on November 29, 2011. Arlene Yu gave a tour and a catalog demonstration to 7 students of Pratt Institute School of Library and Information Science students and their Instructor: Kevin Winkler on January 28, 2012. She discussed rights issues inherent in Dance Division material in different categories (manuscript, audiovisual, published), including permissions to view and copy, in the context of DAN’s ongoing relationship with the dance community and our mission to preserve and make dance documentation accessible. Tanisha Jones gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 16 students from the American Ballet Theatre Studio Class with Guest Instructor: Wendy Perron, Editor in Chief of Dance Magazine, on February 3, 2012. Daisy Pommer gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 24 students of Gettysburg College on February 10, 2012. Daisy Pommer gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 11 students of Kathyanne Guy, the Dance Program Coordinator of University of Miami on March 14, 2012. Tanisha Jones gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 15 students of New York Philharmonic Teaching Artists on April 11, 2012. Tanisha Jones gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 17 students from the class of Lisa Johnson, Dance Adjunct Professor of Manhattan College on April 23, 2012. Tanisha Jones gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 14 7th graders from New Day Academy in the Bronx and 6 adult instructors including Sondra Forsyth, Artistic Director of Ballet Ambassadors on May 11, 2012. Daisy Pommer gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to 23 volunteers here at Library for the Performing Arts on June 13, 2012. Arlene Yu gave a tour and a catalog demonstration with video screening to eight students for Mindy Aloff’s pre‐college class at Barnard College on June 29, 2012. Notable Dance Division users in the last fiscal year 2012 included:  performance and visual artists  writers, scholars and academics from  Ballet Review  Montclair State University  Temple University  University of California, Los Angeles  University of California, San Francisco  University of Wolverhampton  You Dance Funny, So Does Me blog  Duke University  Barnard College  Hamilton College  Santa Monica College  The New York Times  State University of New York, The College at Brockport  American University  Manhattan College  Bard College  New York University  Walker Art Center 24 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012  Dallas Museum of Art dance company leaders and educators from  Ballet Nacional de España  Dance Theatre of Harlem  Martha Graham Dance Company  Albano Ballet  American Contemporary Ballet  Carolina Ballet  Maine State Ballet  Cloud Gate Dance Theatre  Manhattan Youth Ballet and MOTION Dance Theatre  Morphoses  New York Theatre Ballet  Beijing Dance Academy  dancers/choreographers from  City Center Encores!  Parsons Dance  Cross Performance  Doug Elkins Dance Company  American Ballet Theatre  EVIDENCE, A Dance Company  Miami City Ballet  Norwegian National Ballet  Pennsylvania Ballet  Los Angeles Ballet  Dance Theatre of Harlem  New York Theatre Ballet  Philadanco  The Suzanne Farrell Ballet  Vienna State Ballet  Limón Dance Company  Lar Lubovitch Dance Company  New York City Ballet  Anna Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble  C. Eule Dance  Stacy Grossfield Dance  MelbourneTapDance.com  Come Fly Away Broadway production  filmmakers  Steeplechase Films  Timeline Films Behind the scenes, Dance Division staff answered reference queries primarily by e‐mail and telephone. Requests included collection content and availability, permission for use, permission to cite and publish, as well as permission to copy oral history, film, video, manuscript, and photograph materials. 
 USES OF AUDIO/VISUAL COLLECTIONS In Fiscal Year 2012, the Dance Division fulfilled 24 audiovisual requests by providing copies of 57 videotapes to researchers and rights owners for their own archives, for screenings or for use in documentaries, subject to permissions. This work meant that staff assisted patrons with choosing materials for their project, then the staff researched the catalog records for the multiple rights holders for videotapes, including producer, company, 25 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 choreographer, unions, and music rights, and how to contact them. The staff kept track of the permissions as they were received; then created the clips to be used for the patron. A few selected among them are:  The Jerome Robbins Foundation made a few requests throughout the year receiving the following items: DVD copies of the June 13, 1971 New York City Ballet performance of The Goldberg Variations and 1989 preview footage of Jerome Robbins’ Broadway for study purposes.  Dance instructor Kathryn Sullivan received digital files of excerpts from seven videos in the collection of Hanya Holm to be used in the upcoming educational DVD on Hanya Holm being produced by Insight Media.  The New‐York Historical Society received a 5‐second silent clip of Jerome Robbins rehearsing N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz for a video which will be shown in a 10‐year exhibition at the New‐York Historical Society.  The Brooklyn Academy of Music made a few requests throughout the year receiving the following items: DVD copies of the December 19, 2001 BAM Next Wave Festival program presentation of Ballett Frankfurt for use in BAM’s artist talk with William Forsythe on October 29, 2011; the January 10, 1977 BAM presentation of Meredith Monk’s Quarry for use in BAM’s artist talk with featuring Meredith Monk on February 15, 2012; the March 16, 2001 BAM presentation of Mark Morris Dance Group 20th anniversary season performance; and the May 29, 2011 BAM presentation of DanceAfrica 2011.  The Museum of Modern Art received a loan of three Elaine Summers films (Windows in the Kitchen, Judson Fragments, Another Pilgrim) for screening on November 2, 2011 as part of MoMA’s “To Save and Project” international film preservation program where the Women’s Film Preservation Fund honor Elaine Summers.  The American Museum of Natural History received a loan of Margaret Mead’s film Trance and Dance in Bali for screening at the Margaret Mead Film Festival being held at the AMNH November 10‐13, 2011.  Carmen de Lavallade received a DVD copy of the November 16, 1968 WCBS‐TV telecast of the series Camera Three featuring Ms. de Lavallade’s dancing to the music of Heitor Villa‐Lobos for screening in The Villa‐Lobos Music Society, Inc. event “Villa‐Lobos and Dance” on January 22, 2012.  Danspace Project received DVD copies of four Danspace videos that are part of the Danspace Video Archival Project. The videos were screened at a free event at choreographer Douglas Dunn’s SoHo loft on February 4, 2012 as part of the Danspace Project “PLATFORM 2012” curated by choreographer Ishmael Houston‐Jones.  The Dallas Museum of Art received a DVD copy of Léonide Massine’s Aleko to select excerpts from for screening in the Museum’s upcoming exhibition on Marc Chagall entitled Chagall: Beyond Color.  The British television arts magazine show The South Bank Show received a Digital Betacam loan copy of excerpts of Erik Bruhn and Rudolf Nureyev dancing for use in The South Bank Show’s upcoming documentary about male ballet dancers showing how the role of male dancers has evolved from Nijinsky to Nureyev and Baryshnikov through Matthew Bourne, Carlos Acosta and Sergei Polunin.  Smith College received five photographs for an exhibition at titled Debussy’s Paris: Art, Music and Sounds of the City, which ran from February 3, 2012 until June 10, 2012. Three of the loaned pieces are by Charles Gerschel and have the title “Vaslav Nijinsky, Tamara Karsavina and Ludmilla Shollar in Jeux”. The remaining two images are by an unknown photographer and have the title “Vaslav Nijinsky as the Faun”.  Fairfield Museum and History Center received three Rouben Ter‐Arutunian designs for Antony and Cleopatra (1960) to the for their exhibition Setting the Stage, September 24, 2011 until April 1, 2012. Jerome Robbins Gallery at City Center The Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image provided a DVD of several video clips to The Jerome Robbins Foundation from a number of celebrated works by Robbins including West Side Story, Ives, Songs, Interplay and Glass Pieces. The clips were screened in an exhibition honoring Jerome Robbins in a new permanent gallery space sponsored by the Foundation at City Center. The exhibition will be on display for one year opening on October 27, 2011 coinciding with the start of Fall for Dance and the unveiling of the newly renovated City Center. Noted dance scholar Lynn Garafola was chosen by the Foundation to curate this exhibition.  USES OF THE PHOTOGRAPHIC AND DESIGN COLLECTIONS The photographic and design collections of the Dance Division were the source of both scholarly and personal research with 114 images being reproduced in this fiscal year. Of the 114, only 12 were for previously digitized 26 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 items. 102 items required new scanning. Of the 114, 4 were 19th century prints and engravings, 5 were exhibition prints, 16 came from reserve periodicals and clippings files, 6 came from reserve books, 10 came from negatives in the Martha Swope Collection, 5 came from souvenir programs and the balance were black and white photos. All of the black and white photos were scanned here at LPA by Alice Standin, the Dance Division’s photography staff member(part‐time). Negatives as well as prints and books that would not lie flat were sent to the Library’s Digital Imaging Unit or were hand‐carried to SASB to be scanned with an overhead camera. The Dance Division has provided photographs to researchers, writers and production companies for use in books, exhibitions, television broadcasts and literary journals. Noteworthy are:  86 images were scanned for publication in books ranging from Mark Franko's Martha Graham in Love and War, to Helene Foley's Re‐imagining Greek Tragedy
 36 images were selected by Christopher Pennington and Lynn Garafola for a Jerome Robbins Exhibit by New York City Ballet at the refurbished State Theater
 4 were selected from the Humphrey‐Weidman Collection by Michael Rice featured Rose Yagour, his mother, and were for use in a lecture and exhibit at the Jewish Community Library in San Francisco entitled Jewish Women in Early Modern Dance.  6 were featured in Christine Conrad's ebook Watermill Revisited, a follow‐up on her pictorial biography Jerome Robbins: that Broadway man; that ballet man.  2 images of Fokin's Choreartium were requested by the Bavarian State Ballet
 An image of Get in Line from the Humphrey‐Weidman Collection was requested for the James Broughten documentary Big Joy.  Requests for use in scholarly journals included an image of Ruth Page in Dorothy Parker's A Fairly Sad Tale for Joellen Meglin's article Victory Garden: Ruth Pages Dance Poems in the Time of World War II.
 11 photos of 11 Balanchine Ballerinas were scanned here at LPA for Ellen Sorrin for an Awards Presentation. Scanning material in‐house as much as possible is a significant advance for the Dance Division as it improves turnaround time and eliminates the need for some materials to be transported to other buildings and suffer the environmental and loss hazards involved. In addition, with the arrival of the new Metadata Management System we input our own data directly into the digital archive, which increases our control over the content and format of the data and also increases the speed of orders processing. Alice Standin handles both in‐house scanning of Jerome Robbins Dance Division images as well as the input of metadata into the new MMS. 
INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH KHMER DANCE PROJECT WITH FUNDING FROM ANNE H. BASS The Khmer Dance Project was initiated by the Center for Khmer Studies in 2008 in partnership with the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library, with a grant from the Anne Hendricks Bass Foundation. We anticipate that it will be completed by 2013. The intention has been to create primary source material by documenting classical Khmer ballet through filmed interviews and performances. The Royal Ballet of Cambodia, internationally renowned and recognized by UNESCO in 2003 as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity, has flourished after having been forbidden during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975‐1979). The reconstitution of Khmer dance after 1979 has been remarkable. Most of the repertoire of the ballets, such as the emblematic Apsara dance, is now well documented and has been passed on to the next generation, but the community of artists has remained unknown. The few Masters who survived the Khmer Rouge era are now quite elderly and many have died. The Khmer Dance Project has significantly expanded upon the existing information by interviewing and filming the three generations of artists who kept this art alive during an extraordinarily difficult period. The interviews focused on the entire community: dancers, musicians, and singers, as well as embroiderers and dressers. The elderly masters were the priority for KDP, as only five of them were still alive. These artists endured mistreatment and disease in labor camps during the Khmer Rouge revolution. Many died from the conditions or were deliberately killed because of their status. At the time of the KDP interview with Soth Sam On, master of the Giant role, she was already in poor health, and she has subsequently died. Another of the main figures among the survivors is Proeung Chhieng, former exponent of the Monkey role and ex‐Dean of the Faculty of 27 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 the Royal University of Fine Arts. His deep knowledge of Khmer dance and his involvement in the project made the several hours filming him especially valuable. Apart of individual interviews, the Khmer Dance Project filmed ballets and folk dances which show the link between genre dramas, the Royal Ballet with Lakhon Khol, and folk dances. The entire process of the recreation of "Enao Bosseba," performed by the third generation of dancers was recorded, with gratitude to Her Royal Highness, Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, whose interview and rehearsals of the reconstructed ballets Enao Bosseba and Sovannahong were also filmed. Included in the filming was the ritual ceremony of paying hommage to the spirit of dance, prior to its premiere at the Chenla Theater in Phnom Penh. All of the material will be edited and subtitled in English and a Khmer transcript will also be available. At the same time, copies will be available to Cambodians through the Library of the Center for Khmer Studies in Siem Reap and the Bophana Centre in Phnom Penh. Royal Ballet of Cambodia Photo by Anders Jiras Royal Ballet of Cambodia Photo by Anders Jiras 
INTERNATIONAL OUTREACH JAN SCHMIDT TO JAPAN From October 19, to October 24, 2011, Jan Schmidt attended the Kazuo Ohno Festival in Yokohama Japan at the invitation of the Festival organizers. The festival program included various dance performances as well as the exhibition of Kazuo Ohno and Tatsumi Hijikata's archives. Along with the exhibition, there was a series of lectures about dance archives. The Festival was organized by Kazuo Ohno Dance Studio and BankART1929, a nonprofit cultural organization, and co‐sponsored by City of Yokohama. Jan Schmidt participated in a panel discussion on creating a dance archive with Kohji Orita, Advisor of the National Theater; Takashi Morishita, Chief Curator of the Tatsumi Hijikata Archive, for Keio University; and Ichiro Tezuka, Director of the Video Information Center. After speaking, she was greatly honored by Yoshito Ohno, who appeared before her in full costume and the hand puppet of his father and presented Jan with flowers and a gift. She spoke with Kohji Orita, Advisor of the National Theater, which includes the collection of the Kabuki. It was clear from the discussions that institutions in Japan have similar copyright issues as we do in the United States, which limits their ability to let copies go outside of their institution. In Yokohama, Jan Schmidt also attended a very moving performance of Palace Soars Through the Sky at Shin Minatomura Gallery. This remake of the landmark performance originally danced by Kazuo Ohno on the rooftop of Yokohama’s Red Brick Warehouse in April 1993, was performed and directed by Yoshito Ohno. The two‐
hour piece ends with a recording of Elvis Presley’s “Can’t Help Falling in Love” while Yoshito Ohno danced with a hand puppet of his father. 28 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Interpreter Takao Kawaguchi, Jan Schmidt, Kohji Orita, Takashi Interpreter Takao Kawaguchi, Jan Schmidt, Kohji Morishita, Ichiro Tezuka Orita 2.3 Processing and bibliographic control Cataloging and Processing of materials are handled by the Special Formats Processing Unit and Manuscripts Unit.  MANUSCRIPTS PROCESSING The Manuscripts & Archives Division focused on processing and describing the Dance Division backlog and processed 39 collections comprising 348.99 linear feet. This means that for approximately 350 feet of new material, as seven three‐foot long shelves per unit that this is more than 14 units of materials added to the collection. When the materials are processed by the Manuscripts & Archives Division in the Library’s facility in Long Island City the finding aid and catalog are created, then the materials are shipped to the Dance Division. Often, , the public has found the catalog record for the materials and are asking for them before the staff members can get them off the shipping carts and onto the shelves. Materials in boxes before they are processed, conserved and cataloged with finding aids Materials after they are processed, conserved and cataloged with finding aids Materials processed this year include:  Rouben Ter‐Arutunian papers. 17.68 linear feet (43 boxes). Rouben Ter‐Arutunian collection holds address books, contracts, correspondence, date books, design files, exhibit materials, family papers, notebooks, photographs, scrapbooks, slides and writings from his 40 year career as a scenic and costume designer whose work was represented in ballet, opera, theater, and television. The Rouben Ter‐Arutunian papers contain both personal and professional materials.  Irina Baronova papers. 6.79 linear feet (19 boxes). Irina Baronova was a Russian born ballerina who rose to fame with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and enjoyed a successful career as a dancer, movie star, educator, and writer. The Irina Baronova papers contain correspondence, programs, photographs, scrapbooks, writings and other materials from the ballerina's extensive and varied career.  Martha Graham Dance Company tour records. 1.26 linear feet (3 boxes). The Martha Graham Dance Company has remained a leader in the development of contemporary dance since its founding in 1926. The Martha Graham Dance Company Tour records document specific venues and American tours from 1942 to 1950, as well as a 1950 European Tour and the1955‐1956 tour of Asia. 29 Jerome Robbins Dance Division 
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Annual Report FY 2012 Alexandra Danilova papers. .42 linear foot (1 box). Russian ballerina and dance educator Alexandra Danilova was one of the premier dancers of the 20th century, and a collaborator with such icons as George Balanchine, Sergey Diaghilev and Leonide Massine. This collection contains letters, biographical notes, photographs, and other miscellaneous material related to Danilova's personal and professional life. Indrani Rahman papers. 1.68 linear feet (4 boxes). Indrani Rahman (1930‐1999) was an Indian classical dancer who worked as a performer and educator in India and the United States. The Indrani Rahman papers contain choreographic notes, lectures, programs and writings from nearly 50 years of the dancer’s career. Fortune Gallo Ballet Russe business letters. .63 linear foot (2 boxes). This collection documents Gallo’s management of the Original Ballet Russe, and includes letters, legal documents, publicity materials, and newspaper clippings related to the company. Danspace Project records. 31.5 linear feet (75 boxes). The Danspace Project was founded in 1974 at the St. Mark's Church In‐The‐Bowery in New York City to present, support, and encourage new work in dance and performance within a supportive environment. The Danspace Project records document over three decades of dance performances produced by, or affiliated with, the Danspace Project, as well as document the day‐to‐day management of an arts non‐profit. D'Lana Lockett. .42 linear foot (1 box), research for her book on African American female tap dancers. Judith Ren‐Lay papers. 2.77 linear feet (7 boxes), New York City‐based dancer and performance artist. Lil Liandre Papers. .88 linear feet (3 boxes). The Lil Liandre papers contain photographs, correspondence, choreography notes, press clippings, a travel diary, programs, and creative writing, including essays, plays, short stories and poetry. Carola Goya and Matteo Papers. 84 linear feet (2 boxes). The papers document their professional career together through correspondence, publicity materials, press clippings and releases, and writings. Donald Saddler Papers. 37.19 linear feet (92 boxes). The Donald Saddler papers contain materials from 1920 to 2010 that document Saddler's professional life, including correspondence, daybooks, organizational and production files, photographs, scores and scripts. Donald Saddler, an American choreographer, dancers, and theater director, was an original member of American Ballet Theater who later starred in such Broadway musicals as High Button Shoes. He also choreographed on Broadway and for films such as April in Paris, Young at Heart, By the Light of the Silvery Moon, and Radio Days. He is also a member of the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Audrey Wagner collection of Anton Dolin memorabilia. 67 linear feet (2 boxes). One of the premier danseurs of the twentieth century, Sir Anton Dolin performed from 1923 to 1961; later choreographed and staged many ballets; wrote; and acted. A friend of Dolin’s from 1945 to his death in 1983, Audrey (Wallace) Wagner collected memorabilia documenting his career. The Audrey Wagner collection of Anton Dolin memorabilia documents Dolin's entire professional career, including publicity photographs, press clippings, and programs. Merce Cunningham Dance Company Choreographic records 6.97 linear feet (17 boxes). The Merce Cunningham Dance Company Choreographic records contain materials relating to over 100 of Cunningham's original works. These primarily reflect pieces created for the Company, but there are some notes relating to Cunningham's early compositions created between 1942 and 1952. Merce Cunningham (1919‐2009) was a dancer, choreographer, and founder of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. Ronald Field papers. 67 linear feet (2 boxes). Documenting Field's professional career as a dancer and choreographer, his papers contain correspondence, photographs, programs, reviews and scripts relating to his various projects and performances. American Dance Guild. 7.56 linear feet (18 boxes). Founded in 1956 as the Guild of Creative Teachers of Children's Dance, the New York City based American Dance Guild evolved into a non‐profit service organization dedicated to uniting the dance community at both the individual and organizational levels. Consisting of administrative files, Board of Directors correspondence and meeting minutes, as well as extensive conference, seminar, and workshop materials, the American Dance Guild records document over forty‐five years of service to the dance community. 30 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012  THE JEROME ROBBINS FOUNDATION GRANT FOR TEMPORARY CATALOGER Through the efforts of Allen Greenberg, Trustee of The Jerome Robbins Foundation and member of the Committee for the Dance Division, The Jerome Robbins Foundation has generously funded a cataloger for Dance Division materials for three years. On April 18, 2011, Crystal Rangel began working on this project. She started with the cataloging of the videotapes in the Meredith Monk Collection of moving image materials. The collection of nearly 1,400 films and videotapes is nearly finished being processed by the Library’s Special Formats Processing Unit and preserved by the Library’s Preservation Division. So far 1,062 reels have been processed for 239 titles of videotapes from the Meredith Monk Collection. In addition to processing the Meredith Monk collection videotapes, Crystal Rangel inventoried the 650 tapes in the Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive, and processed other smaller videotape collections including Popular Balanchine, Anna Halprin, Garry Reigenborn Company Dance, Ronald K. Brown, and Janis Brenner. Though Crystal Rangel works for the Special Formats Processing Unit, she processes and catalogs only Dance Division videos and the Dance Division would also be thrilled to have her added as a permanent staff member of the Library.  FRIENDS OF THE JEROME ROBBINS DANCE DIVISION GRANT FOR PRINTS AND DESIGNS CATALOGER With funds generously donated from Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the Dance Division hired a temporary cataloger for two years to catalog its backlog of prints and designs to make them available to researchers and the general public. Over a number of years staff members had stored these artworks, creating an inventory. Susan Au, retired Dance Division staff member/cataloger, began on February 14, 2011. The works had been set aside for over forty years, sometimes from lack of staff to work on them, sometimes because they were out‐of‐scope, and sometimes because they were difficult to catalog as there was little or no information about the artist or the work depicted. When the Internet was built and expanded, suddenly the ability to search became an entirely different experience. The researcher didn’t need to go to a book in a specialized library or visit a museum, but could simply search on the Internet and see examples from the museums, see images on the web and immediately locate information to catalog the items. Susan Au was the ideal person for this job. Not only did she know the Dance Division’s catalog and cataloging procedures as she had cataloged video the Jerome Robbins Archive of Recorded Moving Image for sixteen years, but she has a master's degree in art history from Ohio State University as well as a bachelor's in art history from the University of Hawaii. She was easily able to locate the areas where the art works, prints and designs had been stored in various areas of the locked cage area and the Preservation Lab. With help from Pat Rader, she was able to determine the multiple call numbers needed to store these by size and type and whether they were in folders or matted. All these elements, for proper storage reasons and for space issues, mean that the item gets a different call number. Susan Au has now worked one and a half of her two year position. As of June 14, 2012, she has cataloged 2,657 items, including 914 drawings, 734 paintings, 934 mass‐produced prints, 18 photographs, and 57 miscellaneous types. This last category includes collages, color charts, and designers' letters or notes. She has also cataloged recently acquired materials such as the Richard Beard Collection. Below are some of the amazing items that have now been cataloged and are available to the public to see here at the Library for the Performing Arts with the generous support of the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Romare Bearden screen print of Baptism 32x45 inches As this is out‐of‐scope for the Dance Division it will be donated to Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. 31 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Edward Hull uncolored drawing in brown ink, depicting figures on a terrace bordered by a balustrade, has an additional drawing of two figures outside the line border: a male figure holds sheet music and sings the words “Va sempre piano, pia dolce sara mia carina” while a female figure appears to listen. Esward Hull, a British printmaker and drawing master was active in London, according to the British Museum, from 1816‐1829. Annual Report FY 2012 The British Museum holds a print version of this Dance Division original drawing (hand‐colored etching) of only the figures portion of the drawing on a terrace. Edward Hull dancing caricature print. There are five images in three mats in this group. The artist’s signature and date in the lower left corner of this print were the only clues to identification among the group. This information helped the cataloger locate the print in the British Museum’s online catalog. Gift of Lincoln Kirstein. Venetian carnival figures. 33: Ferarese [?], Buratin [two men with a woman? between them; all are masked] ‐‐ 34: Mussicha vsata [i.e., usata] da mascare in Venettia [sic] il Carneuale [three male musicians, costumed as "wild men" in animal skins, playing lutes]. Several of the prints in this collection are similar though not identical to prints made by Francesco Bertelli and published in his Il carnevale italiano mascherato que si veggono in figura varie inuetione di capritii (1642). They may be earlier or later versions made by him or perhaps by his father Pietro, who was also a printmaker. Leonide Massine’s ballet Seventh Symphony was first performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1938 with sets and costumes by Christian Bérard. This design depicts characters in the fourth movement bacchanal of Seventh symphony. Both of these costumes may be seen in production photographs of the ballet and a photograph of a Bérard design depicts a costume very similar to that worn by the horned character. From the Alexandra Danilova collection.  ORAL HISTORY CATALOGING In the Oral History Project of the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image, 231 titles were cataloged (including 23 transcripts relating to cataloged recordings and one independent transcript without accompanying audio). These include 156 recordings from the Jerome Robbins audio collection, most of which had been preserved in the prior fiscal year (see section above on this collection for details); five interviews from the Speaking of Dancing project, three of which are in DVD format (see section above on this project for details); 12 32 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 interviews from the Popular Balanchine collection, which focuses on Balanchine’s choreography for musical comedies and film and includes interviews with Katherine Dunham, Mary Mon Toy, Fayard Nicholas of the renowned Nicholas Brothers, and two Balanchine wives: Vera Zorina, and Maria Tallchief; 12 recordings of Pauline Koner ranging from lectures on her aesthetic and dramatic principles to recordings she made of her most personal thoughts on her family, José Limón, and Yeichi and Lisan Kay Nimura; the remaining seven recordings from the Yeichi Nimura and Lisan Kay Nimura collection, which had been preserved in its entirety in the prior fiscal year; and ten Oral History Project interviews: with Sally Silvers (two separate interviews), Dean Moss, Keith Lee, Elaine Summers, Janet Panetta, Jennifer Muller, Laura Glenn, Diane Madden, and Molissa Fenley. In addition, other new titles cataloged include: four recordings from the 1950s of the dancer and tai chi pioneer Sophia Delza, including two radio interviews conducted by the actress and tarot card specialist, Eden Gray; a 1988 symposium on Martha Graham at which more than 25 past and present Martha Graham dancers including Yuriko, Jean Erdman, Sophie Maslow and other Graham luminaries spoke, and a recording from ca. 1957 of Ted Shawn providing commentary on his and Burton Holmes’ film Dancing Around the World. A number of newly‐preserved recordings (including recordings that had been unavailable to researchers due to their fragile condition) were re‐cataloged. These include a 1974 interview with Mikhail Baryshnikov, in Russian with interpretation; an interview with Balanchine conducted by John Gruen in 1971 in which Balanchine speaks about why “ballet is woman” as well as his thoughts on the women’s liberation movement; an interview with Norman and Ruth Lloyd conducted by Selma Jeanne Cohen in connection with her completion of Doris Humphrey's autobiography; audio footage from the filming of In Search of Lovers, a documentary about the making of Glen Tetley’s work Lovers; and seven oral history project interviews from the 1970s including interviews with John Kriza, Igor and Anna Youskevitch, Ruth Page, Pauline Koner, Lucia Chase, and Virgil Thompson.  JEROME ROBBINS FOUNDATION FUNDING TO PROCESS JEROME ROBBINS AUDIO In March 2011, Imogen Smith was hired part‐time to catalog the remaining audio tapes from the Jerome Robbins Collection; Cassie Mey was hired part‐time to supervise the preservation of the materials. The Jerome Robbins Foundation agreed to allow the funds left in the 2008 Jerome Robbins Exhibition fund to be used for the preservation and processing of these tapes. This project was completed as of May, 2012. The collection included 226 unprocessed sound recordings donated by Jerome Robbins. Twenty cassettes in the collection were donated by the Robbins Rights Trust in 2009. The remainder is from the original Jerome Robbins Archive /NEH Processing Project of more than 1000 reels, completed in 2004. As described in that project’s final report, because an unexpectedly high percentage of the original audio archive was found to be of historic interest, there resulted a shortfall in funding and staff time to process all the materials of potential value. The main category held back from the original processing was materials relating to Robbins’ unproduced works. Held back also were audio materials of unclear origin or that contained primarily music. At the beginning of the project, priorities were determined for preserving the sound recordings, with highest priority given to unique materials created by Robbins, and lowest priority given to recordings of commercial music. With the funds available, all of the recordings judged to be priorities were able to be preserved. In total, 66 reels and 120 cassettes have been transferred to digital formats by George Blood Audio, and have been cataloged by Imogen Smith. The remaining items in the Jerome Robbins Audio Collection, which were not preserved, were determined to be duplicates, blank or to contain commercially available music. Aided by Cassie Mey, Imogen prepared a post for the library’s blog announcing the completion of the project and discussing a handful of highlights from the collection: http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/05/30/surprises‐jerome‐robbins‐audio‐collection. 33 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Original and Copy Cataloging for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division Totals from FY 2012. This includes items cataloged by Special Formats Processing Unit and Dance Division staff. OCLC OCLC OCLC Millennium Titles Cataloged Original Copy Edited Copy Inventory Total Records Monographs 332 332 Archival Collections 45 45 Graphics, (SA 741) 929 929 Manuscripts 0 0 Microfiche 0 0 Sound Recordings 222 222 Sound Recordings Transcripts 24 24 Video Recordings, PK 273 22 295 Video Recordings, CR 176 176 Contributions to NACO NACO name authority records: 14 by Diana Chapman, SFP 515 by Phillip Karg, SFP Other individual updates in Millennium: 528 by Phillip Karg, SFP 1,253 by Diana Chapman, SFP 1719 by Charles Perrier or Arlene Yu, DANCE 11 by Crystal Rangel, SFP Item records created in Millennium: 504 by Phillip Karg, SFP 97 by Diana Chapman, SFP 332 by Charles Perrier or Arlene Yu, DANCE Reclassification of records in Millennium: 21 by Phillip Karg, SFP 21 by Diana Chapman, SFP 65 by DANCE 2.4 Preservation and Conservation  ORAL HISTORY PRESERVATION Outside vendors In the Oral History Archive of the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image, 29 titles, including 10 cassettes and 30 reels (approximately 48 hours in total duration), were transferred to digital formats (wav audio file, which are stored on external hard drives and currently in the process of being transferred to Library servers, and compact disc) by outside vendor George Blood Audio (GBA). 17 titles from the Jerome Robbins Audio Collection, have been transferred in similar manner and format, also by GBA. The titles include 14 sound reels and 8 cassettes; the approximate total duration of the recordings transferred is 12 hours. The preserved recordings described above include the titles with the highest priority remaining from the Jerome Robbins Audio Collection (preservation funded by the Jerome Robbins Foundation). The Jerome Robbins Audio Collection, now fully cataloged, includes a large number of recordings relating to his unproduced Poppa Piece as well as many other recordings reflecting the working methods and personal interests of this giant in the dance field. The newly preserved recordings join the rest of the oral history archive as an entirely unique treasure of dance history documentation, including Library‐produced oral history project interviews from the 1970s with: Leon Danielian, Beryl Grey, Anton Dolin, Andre Eglevsky, Dame Marie Rambert, and Alicia Markova. 34 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 In‐house preservation Also in the Oral History Archive, 20 titles, consisting of 19 reels (approximately 23 hours in total duration) were transferred to digital formats (external hard drive and compact disc) by the Library’s own sound engineers. An additional 10 titles, consisting of 10 cassettes (approximately 9 hours in total duration) were delivered to the Library’s sound engineers for preservation by transfer to digital formats. The preserved recordings include documentation of the 1988 Graham Symposium at the Asia Society, a series of interviews with Agnes de Mille conducted by John Butler, dance classes taught respectively by Ted Shawn and Jose Limon at Jacob’s Pillow ca. 1951, dance classes taught by Charles Weidman in the 1960s, and a discussion on Hindu dance between La Meri and Peter Di Falco in the mid‐1960s. Library staff also identified 54 user copies (representing 36 titles) in compact disc format, which had previously been preserved solely in compact disc format, as having become corrupted and unplayable. As the preservation masters for these 36 titles were stored solely on compact discs made in the early 2000s, they were at serious risk for possible content loss. To re‐preserve these audio recordings, the Library’s sound engineers re‐formatted the compact discs into digital wav audio files (approximately 43 hours in total duration), which are now stored on the Library’s preservation server. Extra compact disc copies from this project were re‐housed and re‐cataloged as new user copies to replace the corrupted user compact discs that had become unplayable. The re‐preserved compact discs include irreplaceable interviews from the early 1970s with Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, and Martha Graham, among many other important dance figures.  MOVING IMAGE PRESERVATION Under the leadership of Tanisha Jones, the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image has continued to preserve, as part of its standard practice, video, film, and born digital materials. Besides the materials preserved in the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Grant and the work noted below from the Preservation Unit that actually accomplishes the preservation are two notable archives. Ping Chong Moving Image Archive In this fiscal year the Dance Division completed the processing and preservation of the Ping Chong Moving Image Archive. The Ping Chong Archive reveals the creative process of Ping Chong, one of the most respected American theatre artists of the 20th century. An important innovator in experimental theatre and intercultural dialogue, Ping Chong is a director, choreographer, videographer, and installation artist. His career began in the early 1970s when he joined The House Foundation led by Meredith Monk, a pioneer of experimental and interdisciplinary theatre with whom Chong collaborated on The Travelogue Series and The Games. Since 1972, Ping Chong has created over 50 works for the stage, which have been presented at major venues all over the world. The Ping Chong Archive contains extensive documentation of over 50 projects in various media, which Ping Chong created between 1972 and 2007, including original theatre works, art installations, film and video productions, published works, and collaborations with other artists such as Meredith Monk and Muna Tseng. Productions represented in the collection include such significant works as Undesirable Elements, Chinoiserie, Deshima, Kind Ness, Maraya ‐ Acts of Nature in Geological Time, Nosferatu: A Symphony of Darkness, Nuit Blanche, and OBON: Tails of Rain and Moonlight. Also included in the Archive are files of Chong's production company, Ping Chong & Company, which contain development files and grant proposals that further illuminate Chong's innovative work and its creation. With the Leon Levy Foundation’s support, Library staff preserved over 90 percent of the video items in the Ping Chong Archive, including 89 VHS and U‐matic video cassettes. Of these 22 titles were preserved and cataloged in this fiscal year. While these video formats remain in use today, preservation work is essential to protect the valuable content on the tapes as they approach obsolescence and suffer ongoing deterioration and contamination. From the original cassettes provided by Ping Chong, Library staff created Digital Betacam preservation masters and DVD copies that will be made available to researchers for viewing in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division at LPA. Video recordings preserved with grant funds range from Chong’s earliest works, such as Fear & Loathing in Gotham (1973) and Lazarus (1972), up to his Undesirable Elements project, an ongoing series of community‐
specific oral history theatre works in which Chong examines the lives of people born in one culture but currently 35 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 living in another. Other notable video materials preserved by the Library include recordings of all four parts of Chong's East‐West Quartet, including Deshima, Pojagi, Chinoiserie, and After Sorrow, and several interviews with Ping Chong and members of his company that are solely available at LPA. Meredith Monk Moving Image Archive The Meredith Monk Archive was donated to The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in 2006 by Meredith Monk. Meredith Monk is a composer, singer, director/choreographer and creator of new opera, music theater works, films, and installations. She pioneered what is now called "extended vocal technique" and "interdisciplinary performance." During a career that spans more than forty years she has been acclaimed by audiences and critics as a major creative force in the performing arts. In 1968, Monk founded the House Foundation for the Arts, a company dedicated to an interdisciplinary approach to performance. In 1978, she formed Meredith Monk and Vocal Ensemble to expand her musical textures and forms. Monk is a pioneer in site‐
specific performance, creating works such as Juice: A Theater Cantata in 3 Installments (1969) and American Archeology #1: Roosevelt Island (1994). She is also an accomplished filmmaker who has made a series of award‐
winning films including Ellis Island (1981) and her first feature, Book of Days (1988). A retrospective art exhibition, Meredith Monk: Archeology of an Artist, was held at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center in 1996. A monograph, Meredith Monk, edited by Deborah Jowitt, was published by Johns Hopkins Press in 1997. Monk continues to compose music and create new works for the theater. The papers from the archive contains correspondence, media clippings, concert programs, publicity material, writings, piece and project files, scores, business and financial papers, photographs and drawings, posters, and books. The 300 boxes of papers were processed and cataloged in 2006‐2007. The Library’s Special Formats Processing Unit, with the help of the cataloger hired by The Jerome Robbins Foundation has begun to process, preserve and catalog the over 1,500 videotapes and film donated. Last year 59 titles, 83 reels, for which there are 237 reels of preservation, have been added to the collection. This fiscal year we added to the collection 176 titles, 246 reels, for which there are 500 reels and digital files of preservation. There is only a small portion of the film elements to be finished next year.  PRESERVATION ADMINISTRATION DIVISION Fran Dougherty, Moving Image Preservation Specialist, Room C04 Gregory Lisi, Moving Image Preservation LTA IV All preservation is now handled through the Preservation Division. The preservation projects for the Dance Division handled this year through the Preservation Unit included cleaning and reformatting U‐matic and ½” open reel tapes as part of acquisitions and preservation of existing materials. As demonstrated in the breakdown below the Library’s Moving Image Preservation studio can accommodate, recover, restore and reformat a broad range of formats historically employed by dance companies and choreographers to document their work. Each year is more challenging as tape formats and their playback units obsolesce, become scarce and difficult to maintain. Additional formats in‐house: Betamax, Betacam SP PAL, CV skip frame ½” open reel, U‐matic PAL and SECAM, VHS PAL and SECAM, and Hi 8mm PAL. This year, with $6,000 of the funding from the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the Preservation Division purchased for $12,000 a factory reconditioned RTI TapeChek Pro Line 4100 Betacam cleaner. This has been a significant help in restoring Betacam master videotapes. Moving Image Media By Format, In House Preservation and Conservation FY 2012 Jerome Robbins Dance Division, handled by NYPL Preservation Unit VIDEO Preservation Archive original format Reels and Files generated Media Files 27 EIAJ 1/2 open reel 23 VHS 240 HDV 0 36 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 8mm video 21 U‐matic 185 Betacam SP 256 DVD 81 DV/ DVC variants 43 Digital Betacam 9 Betamax 4 TOTAL 889 Copies created for donors, exhibitions, documentaries and artists Preservation masters created Access copies created TOTAL all reels produced Feet of 16mm film assessed or prepared for preservation or transfer 134 701 775 1610 38,579 2.5 Exhibitions and Public Programs  EXHIBITIONS The exhibition Residue, featuring works and artifacts collected during Eiko & Koma's 40 years of collaborative art‐
making, were on display in the Library's Astor Gallery from July 20‐October 30, 2011. Eiko & Koma in "Offering" (Warsaw, 2002). Photo by Jaroslaw Brzezinski. Eiko & Koma Photo by Marcus Leatherdale Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive Exhibition for the Celebration hosted by Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division On November 1, 2011, the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division hosted an event to honor the donation of the Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive to the Dance Division. To prepare for this event held in the Oenslager Gallery at LPA, Dance Division staff did a preliminary examination of the archive and quickly chose some materials to be displayed. Included in the display cases were a yearbook from 1967; notes from Frank Sinatra, Jerome Robbins, Fred Astaire, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Robert Wilson, Kirk Douglas, Merce Cunningham; and a beautiful letter from Lincoln Kirstein. Also included was Mikhail Baryshnikov’s book, Merce My Way: The Merce Cunningham Dance Company in Photographs. Projected on the back wall were over a hundred digitized photographs spanning Baryshnikov’s career. These images include snapshots of Baryshnikov as well as the dancer in rehearsal and in performance with his many partners, including Gelsey Kirkland, Natalia Makarova, and Judith Jamison. The slide show was curated and produced by Arlene Yu and the photographs were digitized by Alice Standin and Arlene Yu. Daisy Pommer produced the video clips. Video monitors in the space focused on four themes: Early Years, Ballet in America, Broadway and Beyond, and Modern Dance. Footage from the Early Years included a ten‐year‐old Baryshnikov performing. Other clips included performances and rehearsal sessions with greats like George 37 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Merce Cunningham, and Martha Graham. The Modern Dance reel included excerpts from works by Mark Morris, Martha Graham, Merce Cunningham, Twyla Tharp, David Gordon, Lucinda Childs, Benjamin Millepied, and Sarah Rudner, mostly from White Oak Dance Project. Also included were clips of Baryshnikov performing with Liza Minnelli, Gregory Hines, Bob Hope, and Baryshnikov’s wife, Lisa Rinehart. The Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive documents the dancer’s multifaceted American career and includes nearly 650 videotapes, 400 of which document his ballet years, his solo projects, his commercial projects, and his media interviews. Over 200 videotapes date from his seminal work with White Oak Dance Project, dating from 1990 to 2002. This archive also includes over ten boxes of paper materials, including press, photographs, programs, scrapbooks, and touring documentation. The entire Archive is expected to be processed, preserved and available to the public in three years, though portions will be available sooner as they are cataloged. As many people at the event expressed an interest in coming back to see the preview exhibit it was held over in the Oenslager Gallery until December 20, 2011.  PUBLIC PROGRAMS Bruno Walter Auditorium, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts These programs were presented in conjunction with the exhibition Residue. Eiko & Koma Bruno Walter Auditorium July 28, 2011 For this screening, Eiko & Koma shared five short documentary films about their life and work. In My Parents (2004), their son Shin Otake narrates a film exploring his parents' artistic influences, created in 2004 for the occasion of Eiko & Koma receiving the Samuel H. Scripps American Dance Festival Award. In Dancing in Water: the Making of River (2009), Eiko & Koma revisit their outdoor performance work, River, presented in 11 different bodies of water. Other films on the program include Offering (2010), The Retrospective Project (2010), and Naked: A Gallery View (2011). Following the program, Wendy Perron, Editor in Chief of Dance Magazine, moderated a short discussion with Eiko & Koma. Eiko & Koma: A Retrospective of Films Bruno Walter Auditorium October 6, 2011 Screening of Eiko and Koma dances made for the camera, featuring choreography and camera work by Eiko & Koma in collaboration with videographers. Videos will include Lament, Husk, Undertow, and Breath. Following the program, Lydia Bell, Retrospective Project Coordinator, moderated a discussion between Jan Schmidt, Curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and Jerry Pantzer, Academy and Emmy award‐winning filmmaker, who created the cinematic version of Breath with Eiko and Koma. Photo by Kevin Yatarola. Eiko and Koma performed in the pool at the Lincoln Center Out of Doors Festival, July 27‐31. The Festival organizers estimate that up to 1,500 people came every night for their five performances. 38 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 "Night's Dancer: The Life of Janet Collins" by Yaël Tamar Lewin. Bruno Walter Auditorium February 16, 2012 "Life upon the Wicked Stage": New Books in the Performing Arts: Life Upon the Wicked Stage features Ms. Lewin discussed her new book, which chronicles the extraordinary life story of the dancer Janet Collins (1917–2003). An unusually versatile and creative performer, Janet Collins was a unique concert dance soloist and a black trailblazer in the white world of classical ballet. This year marks the 60th anniversary of her debut at the Metropolitan Opera, where she made international headlines as the first African‐American prima ballerina. Night's Dancer: The Life of Janet Collins, by Yaël Tamar Lewin Jacques d’Amboise, discussed his new memoir, I Was A Dancer. Bruno Walter Auditorium January 23, 2012 In this addition of LPA's series, Life Upon the Wicked Stage: New Books in the Performing Arts, renowned dancer and arts education activist, Jacques d’Amboise, discussed his new memoir, I Was A Dancer. Film Screening of "ECHO" Bruno Walter Auditorium April 5, 2012 ECHO is a new work of video by interdisciplinary artist and PS122 co‐founder, Charles Dennis. This film revisits archival footage of historic downtown live performances, 1980‐2010 and collages them within a 3‐channel audio/video display. 150th Birthday Celebration of Modern Dance Pioneer, Loïe Fuller (1862‐1928) Bruno Walter Auditorium April 12, 2012 Performer‐scholar Jody Sperling presented a lecture honoring Modern Dance Pioneer Loïe Fuller (1862‐1928) and her legacy. The presentation illuminated Fuller's spectacular art in relation to movements in early cinema and the visual arts. Roger Marx. Affiche pour les Folies‐Bergère, "la Loïe Fuller." Lithograph, 1893. NYPL, Art and Architecture Collection, Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs. Digital ID 118588. Modern Gesture by Ann Cooper Albright, Bruno Walter Auditorium, May 24, 2012 Author Ann Cooper Albright's book Modern Gestures reproduces ‐ superbly ‐ more than fifty of Abraham Walkowitz's watercolors held by the Library for the Performing Arts. The presentation by Allbright delivered a fresh approach to Isadora Duncan's dance and Walkowitz's art, seamlessly moving between gesture and drawing in an assemblage of literary theory, art criticism, and dance history. 39 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 3. NEW PROJECTS AND INITIATIVES 3.1 Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division The Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division was very active in the last fiscal year with four meetings in the Library. With Dance Committee funds, the Dance Division acquired the items listed in the Acquisition Section above, including the amazing number of purchases at auction noted above. The Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division also raised funds for the a $250,000 endowment matching grant that the Dance Division received from the Rockefeller Brothers Endowment Grant in December 2009, for its Original Documentations program to record dance. This amount raised included donations from members of this Committee who have been incredibly generous to this effort‐‐Jeffrey Borer, Caroline Hyman, Nancy Lassalle, Arlene C. Cooper, and Madeleine Nichols. The Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and the Preservation Division purchased a factory reconditioned RTI TapeChek Pro Line 4100 Betacam cleaner. This has been a significant help in restoring Betacam master videotapes. This year the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division installed a new slate of officers: Elizabeth O’Brien, Chair, Perry Granoff and Bill Wright, vice‐chairs, Peter Kayafas, secretary, and Allen Greenberg, treasurer. The newest member was Kate Lear LaPook, who joined in June, 2012. Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division Advisory Council Elizabeth O’Brien, Chairman Frederic Franklin Perry Granoff, Vice Chairman Donald Saddler William H. Wright, II, Vice Chairman Peter Kayafas, Secretary Jacqueline Z. Davis Allen Greenberg, Treasurer Genevieve Oswald Charles Perrier Theodore S. Bartwink Danielle Castronovo Sallie Blumenthal Jan Schmidt Dr. Jeffrey S. Borer Arlene C. Cooper James Duffy Hubert Goldschmidt Caroline Hyman Nancy N. Lassalle Kate Lear LaPook Madeleine M. Nichols Meg Stillman Jean Sulzberger Helen Wright 3.2 Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division The Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division is a group committed to supporting the vital work of the Division through their monetary contributions and their creative ideas. Members serve as important advocates for the Division, assisting in identifying other sources of private support that may help maintain and enrich the work of the Division. Friends include supporters, outstanding dancers, choreographers, and scholars of present and past generations. In this fifth year of the Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the Friends continued to grow and develop its network of supporters. With funds from Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the Dance Division hired a temporary cataloger for two years to catalog its backlog of prints and designs so that they would 40 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 be available to researchers and the general public. Over a number of years staff members stored these artworks and created an inventory. Susan Au, retired Dance Division staff member/cataloger, began on February 14, 2011. See information above about materials she has cataloged. Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division Anne H. Bass, Co‐Chair Caroline Cronson, Co‐Chair Friends of Dance Honorary Members Merrill Ashley Francia Russell Barbara Horgan Mikhail Baryshnikov Suki Schorer Allegra Kent Peter Boal Ethan Stiefel Julie Kent Holly Brubach Kent Stowell Lourdes Lopez Natalia Makarova Darcey Bussell Paul Taylor Patricia McBride Angel Corella Helgi Tomasson Benjamin Millepied Jacques d'Amboise Violette Verdy Arthur Mitchell Suzanne Farrell Edward Villella Mark Morris Alessandra Ferri Karin von Aroldingen Gillian Murphy William Forsythe Heather Watts Kyra Nichols Cynthia Gregory Christopher Wheeldon Nancy Reynolds Paloma Herrera Wendy Whelan Damian Woetzel Friends of Jerome Robbins Dance Division Celebrates Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive Donation On November 1, 2011, the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division hosted an event to honor the donation of the Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive to the Dance Division. To prepare for this event held in the Oenslager Gallery at LPA, the Dance Division staff did a preliminary examination of the archive and quickly chose some materials to be displayed. As many people at the event expressed an interest in coming back to see the preview exhibit it was held over in the Oenslager Gallery until December 20, 2011. Here are a few pictures from the November 1, 2011 event. Anne Bass and Caroline Cronson Jackie Davis, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Mark Morris Caroline Cronson, Tony Marx, Anne Bass Arlene Cooper and Carmen Soubriet Caroline Cronson and Allen Greenberg Baryshnikov, Hubert and Mireille Goldschmidt 41 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Jessica Irving and Paloma Herrera Elizabeth and Michael O’Brien Kevin McKenzie and Jennifer Homans Mikhail Baryshnikov and Freddie Franklin Mikhail Baryshnikov and Jan Schmidt Mikhail Baryshnikov and Nancy Lassalle Vicki Steele Kate Levin and Tony Marx Jacques d’Amboise and Mikhail Baryshnikov All photos by Julie Stapen 3.3 Dance Heritage Coalition The Dance Heritage Coalition (DHC) officers are: Nena Couch, Lawrence and Lee Theatre Research Institute, Ohio State University, Chair; Dawn Lille, Dance Notation Bureau, Vice‐Chair; and Genie Guerard, UCLA Library, Secretary/Treasurer. The Fall meeting was held on November 6 and 7, 2011 in New York City at Dance Notation Bureau on November 6 and the next day at the Library for the Performing Arts. The length of Executive Committee terms formally recorded. Per the by‐laws, Executive Committee is one year and can be renewed. All terms will be aligned with the calendar year. The current slate was elected to serve through December 2012. The second meeting was held at Arizona State University from April 1 through April 2, 2012. The funding overview showed that the DHC was doing well. The Secure Media Network (SMN) work continued. Chris Miller reported that there were some issues with compression and signal flow at the DNB site, but they are being addressed. Monthly phone calls are now scheduled with Chris Miller, Tanisha Jones, Libby Smigel, DNB site and BAVC. BAVC is now using Blackmagic Design as capture mechanism for stabilized video reference outputs. The SMN has switched from Fedora to D‐Space DSpace and Fedora are both mature repository open source software solutions. DSpace may be deployed “out‐of‐
the‐box” as an institutional repository. DSpace provides a internal metadata schema (based on Qualified Dublin Core) for describing content, and allows the addition of the institution’s own local or custom qualified metadata schemas. DSpace also includes a variety of preservation and management tools and a simple workflow for uploading, approving, and making content available via the web. Fedora is a flexible framework for building data repositories. Fedora does not present users with a finished application out‐of‐the‐box. Most institutions that 42 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 implement Fedora develop their own user‐facing application on top or customize a pre‐existing application designed to work with Fedora, such as Islandora or Libra, a variant of Hydra. Fedora permits users to construct simple to complex object models representing any number of unique use cases for data preservation and archiving. The Secure Media Network will be proceeding to the next phase. In the first phase the Dance Division along with the other members each supplied five titles from our collections to be ingested and stored as digital files by Bay Area Video Coalition. Once this material is ready, the project to expand the numbers of materials and to create the partnerships and software needs for the member institutions to receive the files and deliver them to their users will begin. This year there is a beta test site at archive.danceheritage.org. The PBCore repository was developed by Dave Rice and currently holds 25,000 records. Right now, any user can see the metadata. Streaming video viewing is restricted to DHC members with IP blocks. Once the preservation files are created, proxy files are converted to H.264. H.264 files are currently served up in Flo‐Player, an open source Flash player. If Flash goes away, they can return to the H.264 files and serve them in a different way. The next step is inclusion of next 100 videotapes. 3.4 Core of Culture The Jerome Robbins Dance Division continued to partner in the Core of Culture’s project to record and preserve disappearing dance traditions from the Kingdom of Bhutan to Ladakh and most recently to China. In 2008, after a three‐year course of taping, Core of Culture recorded more than 300 separate dances creating 500 hours of video and a searchable database. The Bhutan Dance database has 800 entries with 5 pages each of information about a specific dance. Gessie Houghton, Director of Technology automated the connection between the 500 hours of digitized footage and the database. It can be searched by dance, location, deity, or lineage and the viewer can see the entire dance shot from two angles. The four terabytes of video came to the Dance Division with all rights. The Library is now poised to begin to deliver these videos on line freely available to the public on the Library’s website. Right now, the Dance Division is showing these dances and the database to the public next to the reference desk on the second floor. 3.5 The New York State Council on the Arts The New York State Council on the Arts (NYSCA) awarded the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image a grant of $33,770 this year for original documentation, oral history and audio preservation, year three of a total of four‐year period of support. In Fiscal year 2012 the Jerome Robbins Dance Division videotaped nineteen dance performances of significant artistry and choreography; and recorded seven oral histories with notable figures from the world of dance. Additionally, the Dance Division preserved 69 hours of existing oral history recordings. Of these, approximately twenty‐five hours were supported with funding from NYSCA. The five companies or choreographers videotaped with NYSCA funds were Keely Garson’s Bessie Award winning work, Twin Pines; the Danspace Platform Parallels program From the Streets, From the Clubs, From the Houses; Stephen Petronio Dance’s world premiere of The Architecture of Loss with the music of Valgeir Sigurdsson and composer Nico Muhly, City of Twist, a 2002 collaboration with the Laurie Anderson and cutting edge fashion designer Tara Subkoff, Ethersketch I, performed by New York City Ballet principal dancer Wendy Whelan, marking her first foray into modern dance. The first revival of Intravenous Lecture (1970), conceived by Judson legend Steve Paxton and performed by Stephen Petronio, rounded out the program.; Reggie Wilson’s theRevisitation; and Luciana Achugar’s new work, FEELingpleasuresatisfactioncelebrationholyFORM. 3.6 The National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) awarded the Dance Division $27,550 for original documentations of dance. In Fiscal Year 2012, through its original documentation program, the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image videotaped a total of 19 performances and 3 non‐performance recordings, for a total of 22 original dance productions. Seven dance oral histories were recorded and 69 hours irreplaceable audio materials were preserved. Approximately 10 of these hours were funded through the NEA. 43 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 With funding provided by NEA, the Dance Division recorded 5 dance performances including a program by Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater featuring the company premiere of Paul Taylor’s Arden Court and Ohad Naharin’s Minus 16, as well as new works by Robert Battle and Rennie Harris; a revival of John Kelly’s Bessie Award‐winning Find My Way Home; Lar Lubovitch Dance Company performing the world premiere of Crisis Variations, as well as revivals of Dvorak Serenade and Legend of Ten; Sarah Michelson’s Devotion Study #1—The American Dance, the first dance piece commissioned by the Whitney Museum of American Art for its prestigious Biennial exhibition; and Heat Wave: The Jack Cole Project, a musical revue of work by and inspired by the jazz dance pioneer. 3.7 Doris Duke Charitable Foundation Grant The New York Public Library (NYPL) was awarded a grant of $200,000 from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation over a period of 24 months to develop, test, and reconfigure a system that will allow dance scholars, creative professionals, and students to more easily find and use audio and moving image collections from its Jerome Robbins Dance Division. This system will address the complex issues associated with delivering audio and moving images in a digital format, combining advanced features that facilitate discovery and display of high‐quality audio and video with a sophisticated system for managing access to the content in accord with intellectual property and other applicable rights restrictions. The project will include feedback loops with identified groups from within the dance community to ensure its relevance and that the system meets needs that are specific to dance users. This year, the Library signed with a secure video delivery company and the Dance Division is in the process of creating the H.264 files that will be uploaded so they can be delivered in a variety of file types that various computers and software programs can play. This means that the public will be able to access the files at the Library’s computers and viewing stations by clicking on a link directly from the catalog record in the viewing room and online for those materials for which we have the right to show without restrictions on the web. This year the Preservation Unit, as part of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation grant, began preserving videotapes from the Dance Division’s recordings, which at the time were on the industry standard tapes, but which now are obsolete. So far, among other collections, the Preservation Unit has preserved 162 camera originals from New York City Ballet's Balanchine Celebration from 1993 and 78 camera originals from 1990 performances during the New York City Ballet's Festival of Jerome Robbins' Ballets. These wide and close shot recordings are unedited at the request of the choreographers. When the interface for the delivery system is created, it will have the capacity to screen these wide shots in sync with the close shot. These will only be available here at the Library for the Performing Arts. However, for those recordings for which we have the right to show without restrictions on the web, the Library will begin offering these to the public online. Among the videos that will be available on the Internet will be the four hundred hours of video from the Kingdom of Bhutan and the interviews with Cambodian dancers. The Library has also given interns to the Dance Division this year to search other original documentations of dance performances created by the Dance Division for possible use online. 3.8 Rockefeller Brothers Foundation Grant for Original Documentations The Library, with extraordinary help from the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and Friends of the Dance Division, has raised the $250,000 challenge grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund for the original dance documentation program. The Dance Division’s Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image received the $250,000 endowment matching grant from the Rockefeller Brothers Endowment Grant in December 2009, for its Original Documentations program to record dance. This grant should allow for approximately five more dance performances to be recorded yearly with Rockefeller Brothers Foundation support. Among the donors through the Library, the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and the Friends of Dance were: Helen Gebig, Anne H. Bass, Jeffrey Borer, Caroline Hyman, Nancy Lassalle, Arlene C. Cooper, and Madeleine Nichols. The Foundations who donated were The Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation. This year, with funding from Rockefeller Brothers Foundation Grant, the Dance Division recorded Alexei Ratmansky’s evening length work The Bright Stream performed by American Ballet Theatre at the Metropolitan Opera House on May 29, 2012, and an evening of works performed by Mark Morris Dance Group at The Rose Theater, Lincoln Center, on August 20, 2011. 44 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 4. STAFF NEWS 4.1 Personnel changes Though the Dance Division still has only five FTE (Full Time Equivalent) employees, we have happily added, as noted above four temporary staff members: Arlene Yu and Crystal Rangel hired for three years, Susan Au hired for two years, and Cassie Mey hired for one year on several grants. Charles Perrier, Assistant Curator, retired on February 18, 2012. On May 7, 2012, Danielle Castronovo began work as the new Assistant Curator of the Dance Division. In an effort to have more moving image records freely available on the Internet, the Rights and Permissions Office of the Library offered the Dance Division legal interns, Eduardo VIllalta and Rachel Bandli.  Eduardo Villalta, a 2011 graduate of NYU Law School, joined the Dance Division in November, 2011 as a post‐graduate intern in the Rights and Permissions Office. Under the supervision of the Curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and Rights Clearance Analyst, Greg Cram, he collected and reviewed contracts, releases and other documents associated with recordings made by the Dance Division, digitizing and organizing these in preparation for their incorporation into the Rights Database. In addition, he drafted memoranda on copyright and rights related issues for the Dance Division and Rights Clearance Analyst.  Rachel Bandli, currently a student at Columbia Law School, joined the Dance Division as a Rights and Permissions intern for the summer. She analyzed and digitized release forms dating back to the 1960s and entered the information into the Rights Chronology spreadsheet, which will be used as a reference when determining whether the library can make audio‐visual recordings available online. Rachel also worked on updating the release forms used by the Dance Division for its Original Documentation program. She started on May 29, 2012 and ended on August 4. 4.2 Staff development A number of the Division’s full‐time permanent staff members across all levels of seniority benefited from conference participation and other leadership opportunities. All staff members participated in other training initiatives and many were members of committees both internal and external to NYPL. Conferences, representation and training opportunities  Jan Schmidt to Walker Arts Center IMLS Discussion Meeting, November 3‐ 5, 2011. Jan Schmidt with Jackie Davis attended the Walker Arts Center IMLS discussion group on November 4, 2011. As a part of their National Leadership Grant, awarded by the Institute for Museum and Library Services, the Walker Arts Center engaged in a series of initiatives related to documenting and cataloging collections of materials for the performing arts. Their goal was to define what it means to catalogue performing arts within the context of the museum setting and in relationship to the concept of those works as part of a museum’s “permanent collection.” Invited participants included performing arts professionals representing organizations from across the country including presenting and producing organizations, academia, city and state‐based cultural affairs departments, archives, museums, and libraries. In conjunction with this convening, the Walker Art Center was also celebrating the inaugural exhibition of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company archives of art works and costumes. There was a gallery exhibit and performances. We attended the performance on Friday night from the Legacy Tour of the Merce Cunningham Dance Company. The dance works performed were Pond Way (1998), RainForest (1968) and Antic Meet (1958).  Arlene Yu attended the day‐long OnCopyright 2012: Advancing the Creative Economy conference hosted by Columbia University on March 30, 2012. She attended panels discussing issues of copyright and creative output in the context of increasing digitization. 45 Jerome Robbins Dance Division 
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Annual Report FY 2012 Tanisha Jones (Moving Image Archive Director), Susan Kraft (Oral History Project Coordinator), and Cassie Mey (Oral History Archive Assistant), attended the Association for Recorded Sound Collections annual conference in Rochester, NY, from May 16‐19th. They participated in a day‐long workshop on Copyright and Sound Recordings led by Peter Hirtle, the Intellectual Property Officer for Cornell University Library. Susan and Cassie also attended conference sessions and panel discussions on audio preservation issues and audio collections strategies On February 26, 2012, Jan Schmidt and Jacqueline Davis attended the DANCE NYC symposium at the Gibney Dance Center, a new complex of seven spacious studios located in the historic 890 Broadway Building. This symposium was to discuss Dance/NYC's industry report, State of NYC Dance. Some of the panelists included: Gina Gibney, Artistic Director, Gibney Dance and Gibney Dance Center; Lane Harwell, Director, Dance/NYC; Lisa Robb, Executive Director, New York State Council on the Arts; Jamie Bennett, Chief of Staff and Director of Public Affairs, National Endowment for the Arts (Moderator); Robert Johnson, Dance Critic and Former Board Member, Dance Critics Association, The Star‐Ledger; Wendy Perron, Editor‐in‐Chief, Dance Magazine; Brian Seibert, Dance Critic, The New York Times; Gus Solomons, Jr., Dancer, Choreographer, Dance Writer and Arts Professor at NYU/Tisch School of the Arts; Elizabeth Streb, Chairman of STREB, Inc. and Artistic Director for STREB Lab for Action Mechanics, Action Architect On May 29, 2012, Specialist Arlene Yu spoke about her work in the Dance Division at the Dance Heritage Coalition Fellows Orientation in Washington, DC. The seven Fellows, one of which was stationed at the Dance Division for six weeks this summer, was trained on issues in dance heritage at the DHC’s member organizations, and then provided archival advisement to selected dance companies. Arlene also provided advice and support during the Fellows’ site visit to and archival needs assessment of Step Afrika!, a DC‐
based dance company. She was a DHC Fellow in 2010 prior to joining the Dance Division. Arlene Yu also spoke about her work at the Dance Division at a career panel for Wight Foundation Scholars in Newark, NJ on March 12, 2012, to increase awareness of dance scholarship and careers in libraries and archives. On April 25, 2012, she also spoke about her career path at a Pratt Institute MLS program class headed by Library Journal editor‐at‐large and Professor John Berry. On June 14, 2012, Arlene Yu attended a session of the NYC Digital Humanities & Performing Arts Meetup Group on Linked Jazz, an ongoing project investigating the potential of the application of Linked Open Data (LOD) technology to enhance the discovery and visibility of digital cultural heritage materials. Moving Image Specialist Arlene Yu represented the Dance Division at the Society of Dance History Scholars conference in Philadelphia from June 15‐17, 2012. She participated in sessions and panels on social partner dancing worldwide, street dance performance and dance film as social critique, Latino dance, and queer masculinity. 4.3 Committee activities External: Dance Heritage Coalition Board Meeting November 6‐7, 2011 Jan Schmidt attended the Dance Heritage Coalition Board meeting in New York City on November 6‐7, 2011. The Newberry Library was formally accepted as a member of DHC. The Mellon Foundation grant to do Scholarly Assessments and Inventories of collections to ready them to be accepted by repositories finished four of the seven companies: David Gordon; Dance Theatre of Harlem; Margaret Jenkins and Joe Goode. The three remaining to be assessed and inventoried are Eiko and Koma; Garth Fagan; and Lar Lubovitch. The Secure Media Network is in its second wave of mastering tapes, with a new hub added at Dance Notation Bureau. A new IP agreement was created by Mellon. The 2011 funding was $400,000. The new tax accountant thinks we should get a Conflict of Interest Policy signed by member institutions. Dance Division needs to bring this up to our lawyers. Dance Heritage Coalition Board Meeting April 1 and 2, 2012 Jan Schmidt attended the Dance Heritage Coalition Board meeting in Tempe, Arizona at Arizona State University from April 1‐2, 2012. Jan was asked to work on by‐laws with Nena Couch. Arizona State University is setting up a Dance Collection Database to match archives with artists who want to place their archives. 46 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Arlene Yu asked to join Board of Society of Dance History Scholars Following her attendance at the Society of Dance History Scholars conference in Philadelphia from June 14‐17, 2012, Arlene Yu was invited to join the Board of the organization by SDHS President Thomas DeFrantz. She has also joined the SDHS working groups on Popular, Social and Vernacular Dance and Latin American, Latino and Caribbean Dance Studies. Internal: Jan Schmidt attended meetings of OneNYPL Management Council, and Special Research Collection Development & Acquisitions quarterly meetings. Arlene Yu is part of a small team of NYPL Research Libraries staff that is working on the development of the social catalog Bibliocommons to better display research division materials and better serve the needs of the Dance Division’s researchers. Arlene Yu is also the Dance Division representative on the Library for the Performing Arts core reference working group, addressing reference needs, issues, and training for LPA staff members. In support of the Library’s vision for its online future, Arlene Yu participated in a brown bag lunch talk on Linked Open Data in Libraries, Archives, and Museums, hosted by NYPL Labs on July 12, 2011. In addition, Arlene was invited to attend and participated in the NYPL Social Media Unconference on November 10, 2011, and the Virtual Library of the Future workshop hosted by the NYPL Strategy Office on March 8, 2012. Arlene Yu attended meetings of the Library for the Performing Arts Digital Humanities Working Group, which was formed to share notes on trends in digital humanities and to brainstorm potential new projects for the research divisions at LPA. Training and collaboration Tanisha Jones continues her participation in the collaborative project co‐supervising a moving image preservation intern with NYPL staff member Tom Christie of Special Formats Processing (SFP), to work on archival film materials from the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture’s Moving Image and Recorded Sound (MIRS) collection. Interns Jieun An and Juana Suárez from NYU’s MIAP graduate program conducted their internships in fall 2011 and spring 2012 semesters respectively. This project continues to be successful. Cassie Mey attended the NYPL internal blogging training (for Drupal) courses on Feb. 2, and May 24, 2012. She posted her first entry, introducing the Dance Oral History Archive on Feb. 15, 2012: http://www.nypl.org/blog/author/813. Since then she also assisted Susan Kraft and Imogen Smith in posting their respective blog entries that highlight the current activities of the Oral History Archive and Project. Cassie Mey, recipient of a Project CHART Fellowship Cassie Mey, part‐time Oral History Archive assistant, is the current recipient of a Project CHART Fellowship, a full tuition scholarship to complete her final year of graduate studies at the Pratt Institute School of Information and Library Science. As a Project CHART fellow, Cassie is interning at the Brooklyn Historical Society to digitize and process their historic image collections of Brooklyn. This 3 year IMLS funded Project will culminate next year in a CHART website portal that exhibits the photographic image collections of the Brooklyn Historical Society, the Brooklyn Public Library, and the Brooklyn Museum. Arlene Yu was nominated for, and on May 18, 2012 graduated from, the NYPL Managing for Excellence program, which is designed to identify and nurture potential future NYPL leadership. 47 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 4.4 Publications, press and social media  NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES AND RADIO Patricia Cohen, in New York Times, October 5, 2011 Baryshnikov Packs Up His Memories in Boxes Patricia Cohen wrote: Among the hundreds of video recordings that Mikhail Baryshnikov has collected over the decades are a handful that show him rehearsing with the titans of dance George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham. But perhaps the most treasured is a cloudy black‐and‐white clip of the 16‐year‐old Baryshnikov at a lesson with his revered teacher Alexander Pushkin at the Vaganova Academy of Russian Ballet in St. Petersburg. “‘This man just made me as a dancer,’ Mr. Baryshnikov explains in another video, an interview from 1974, when he defected to Canada from the Soviet Union. Pushkin, he tells the translator in Russian, was a magician and a father figure. “These videotapes are part of a cache of personal recordings, photographs, documents, letters and scrapbooks that Mr. Baryshnikov, 63, has donated to the New York Public Library. ‘It’s my whole life,’ he said of the 35 boxes of materials that he and his wife, Lisa Rinehart, packed up.” WNYC Friday, October 07, 2011, By Tracie Hunte Mikhail Baryshnikov Donates Archive to New York Public Library “Like most New Yorkers, Mikhail Baryshnikov had a bit of a storage problem. But unlike most New Yorkers, he had options that didn’t include orange storage lockers. So when the dancer and his wife were getting ready to move, Baryshnikov donated 35 boxes filled with videos, photos, letters and documents ‐‐ his archive ‐‐ to the New York Public Library. While most artists donate or sell their archives near the end of their careers, the 63‐year‐old is still working as a dancer, actor and founder of the Baryshnikov Arts Center in Manhattan. But space issues brought this collection to the library a little earlier than usual. "People have so much more stuff than they used to," said Jan Schmidt, the curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division for the New York Public Library. "Fifty years ago if someone had a couple of films, that was a lot. Today people have hundreds, if not thousands of videos of their work." Baryshnikov’s archives include nearly 700 videos, in which he can be seen practicing as a young boy, doing exercises at the Vaganova School in the 1960s, and after defecting from the Soviet Union in 1974, working with great choreographers like George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Martha Graham. "I was just stunned to see so many incredible things," Schmidt said of the videos. "There's a lovely piece where Baryshnikov is doing a piece for Martha Graham and then he just comes and kneels in front of her and it's just really moving." Charles Perrier quoted in Pointe Magazine, June/July 2011 Pointe Magazine, June/July 2011, volume 12, issue 3, pp.68‐69. In an article titled: The Extra Step: How research can improve your performance written by Michael Crabb, Charles Perrier was quoted. “But keep in mind that Google can’t get you everywhere. For New York dancers, the invaluable dance division of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts has 22,700 films and videos, about half of which are ballet, says assistant curator Charles Perrier – and very little of this precious footage can be found on YouTube. (That’s not to mention the rest of the dance division’s remarkable collection, which includes choreographic notes; dance biographies and histories; taped interviews with dancers and choreographers; and original costume and set designs.) In fact, since all footage of Balanchine ballets is protected by the Balanchine Trust, when it comes to his works, the library is the best place to go.” AM NEW YORK Isaac Mizrahi February 12, 2012, by Sheila Anne Feeney Isaac Mizrahi on how TV is like your mother & where to eat on the UES\ Photo credit: Courtesy Isaac Mizrahi Q: Tell us the best place to go for fashion inspiration and fashion bargains. A: Chinatown. Everyone there knows how to put themselves together, from the insanely gorgeous old people to the young fashionable person. And there is a fabulous hipster scene on at the fringes. I also go to the Jerome Robbins collection at the Lincoln Center Library for the Performing Arts, because I'm inspired by dancers ‐ fashion is all about the body. For bargains, just go to any store before Christmas. In the fourth quarter, they need to make room for the New Year and mark everything down. 48 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Eiko & Koma in NJ.com Up to their necks in dance: Eiko and Koma offer the premiere of 'Water' at Lincoln Center Out‐of‐Doors Published: Thursday, July 21, 2011, 12:12 PM; Updated: Friday, July 22, 2011, 1:13 PM, written by Robert Johnson/The Star‐Ledger. “Water flows down rivers and streams. It pools in lowlands, falls from the sky and crashes against shores. Yet water is not some mysterious, alien force. It is intimately familiar to us. As dancers Eiko and Koma point out, "Water is in our bodies … and our tears." "Water" is also the title of the premiere commissioned by the Lincoln Center Out of Doors festival, which Eiko and Koma will perform in the reflecting pool in front of the Vivian Beaumont Theater. Like the related exhibition, "Residue," at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, the premiere of "Water" marks the 40th anniversary of their collaboration. These singular artists, who are married, have worked in the United States since 1976, perfecting an organic brand of contemporary dance that they call "delicious movement." Their dancing is exquisitely slow, like a shadow creeping across the floor or a body shifting in sleep. Eiko and Koma’s subjects are time, evolution and humanity’s relationship to the natural world.” Genevieve Oswald article in Dance Chronicle Lynn Matluck Brooks published an article in the Dance Chronicle, 34:3, 447‐486 (2011): A Bold Step Forward: Genevieve Oswald and the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library. A link to the article is: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/01472526.2011.615239. This nearly forty page article shows the impressive and dedicated work of the first curator of the Dance Division Gegi Oswald. Among the people mentioned in the article are Hubert Goldschmidt, Marjo Graff and Jean Sulzberger. Of course, the Committee for the Dance Division is mentioned a number of times. The article is a good history of the Dance Division and the way in which it lead the New York Public Library and the world in collecting, preserving and cataloging dance materials.  BLOGS, RECENT ONLINE BLOGS BY STAFF OF THE JEROME ROBBINS DANCE DIVISION Excerpt from: Sneaking a Peak at Baryshnikov (AMONG THE TOP 5 NYPL BLOG POSTS FOR NOVEMBER 2011) by Arlene Yu, Archive of the Recorded Moving Image, Jerome Robbins Dance Division LPA November 7, 2011 A few weeks ago, NYPL's Jerome Robbins Dance Division made headlines when it received a major gift of materials from Mikhail Baryshnikov,* the celebrated dancer, actor, and founder of the Baryshnikov Arts Center. We’ve only scratched the surface in terms of the processing needed to make the archive accessible to the public, but in the meantime, we’ve put together a sneak preview showcasing what we’ve found so far! Mikhail Baryshnikov: An Archival Preview is on view in the Donald and Mary Oenslager Gallery at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts until December 20, 2011. Take a rare glimpse into the collection before it is catalogued, a process expected to take three years. More information about the exhibition >> Many people these days may be more aware of Baryshnikov from his television work on Sex and the City, but those of us over a certain age remember the excitement when this Kirov (Mariinsky) Ballet star burst onto the New York stage, dancing with Natalia Makarova* in Giselle with the American Ballet Theatre on July 27, 1974. (You can see silent excerpts of that very first performance in New York or a later full performance by the pair right here in the Library.) 49 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Excerpt from: Celebrating the Life of Janet Collins, an African‐American Pioneer in Dance by Arlene Yu, Archive of the Recorded Moving Image, Jerome Robbins Dance Division LPA February 14, 2012 The headlines about her death called her the first African American ballerina of the Metropolitan Opera, but Janet Collins was much more than that. A new biography, Night’s Dancer: The Life of Janet Collins, highlights the career of this pioneering artist, drawing partly on materials donated by Collins and others in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Author Yaël Tamar Lewin will be speaking about her book on Thursday, February 16 at 6pm in the Bruno Walter Auditorium, and we have put together a small exhibit of materials on Collins on the third floor of the Library for the Performing Arts celebrating her life and work. The exhibit will only run through March, so we hope you can visit us soon! Born in New Orleans and raised in Los Angeles, Collins nurtured her talents in both dance and art, studying ballet, modern, and ethnic dances in addition to drawing and painting. She was accomplished enough in ballet to be offered a place in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at the age of 15 — a position she refused when it came with the requirement that she paint herself white — and versatile enough to excel as a modern dancer in Katherine Dunham’s and Lester Horton’s companies. Close up of costume for Blackamoor, designed and choreographed by Janet Collins Dance Magazine, May 1949 Billboard Donaldson Awards, 1950‐1951 Season Greetings from the Jerome Robbins Dance Division Oral History Archive! by Cassie Mey, Oral History Archive, Jerome Robbins Dance Division February 15, 2012, excerpt The Jerome Robbins Dance Division Oral History Archive is home to unique and rare dance related audio recordings that capture the voices of dancers, choreographers, composers, lighting designers, costume designers, and dance scholars, from the mid‐20th Century through today. These recordings encompass a wide range of original and donated content, including Dance Division produced oral history interviews, radio show broadcasts, speeches, lecture/demonstrations, panel discussions, dance classes/workshops, and personal recordings. 50 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 I’m Cassie, and as the Oral History Archive assistant, one exciting aspect of my job is to help transform the collection's fragile audio recordings into the stable formats that you can listen to and use for your dance history research. Some of my favorite, recently preserved gems include: A 1964 radio broadcast of Ruth St. Denis speaking about the influence of Indian culture and Hindu temple dances on her life and work. Martha Graham in her mid‐
career, ca. 1951, lecturing on her philosophies of dance artistry to a live audience. Katherine Dunham interviews from 1999 & 2000, part of the Balanchine project, regarding her collaboration with George Balanchine on the 1940‐1941 Broadway show Cabin in the Sky. You can listen to these recordings, and many others from the collection, at the Library listening stations on the 3rd floor. Blog by Arlene Yu for Loïe Fuller Exhibition in Dance Division Reading Room, excerpt 150 years after her birth in Fullersburg, Illinois on January 15, 1862, Marie Louise "Loïe" Fuller is less well known than her peers. Yet her work, flowing and abstract and free from the constraints of classical ballet, predated and paved the way for more familiar modern dance pioneers like Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis. On April 12, the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts will celebrate the 150th anniversary of Loïe Fuller's birth with a program by Jody Sperling, the Founder and Artistic Director of Time Lapse Dance, as well as a scholar and interpreter of Loïe Fuller's style. In conjunction with the program, we have put together a small exhibit of materials on Fuller from the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. The exhibit is on the Library's third floor and will be available to view through June 2. During her early career, Loïe Fuller worked in vaudeville, notably in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. She was more musical theatre actress than dancer, and made a gender‐bending appearance as Aladdin in The Arabian Nights at the Standard Theatre in New York City in 1887. By the end of 1892, however, Fuller had become renowned as the inventor and performer of the Serpentine Dance. Short, rather plump, and lacking in formal dance training, she developed her own natural movement and performance aesthetic, manipulating a billowing robe of white silk fabric into swirling and undulating forms under colored lights on a darkened stage. Surprises in the Jerome Robbins Audio Collection, excerpt by Imogen Smith, Speaking of Dancing Project Coordinator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, May 30, 2012 Archival collections can harbor surprises — which makes the job of processing them fun! The personal archives of artists not only document their careers and personal lives, but often contain material reflecting their interests and their times. 51 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 Jerome Robbins, a choreographer of prolific and complex genius whose work spanned ballet and musical theater, was a long‐time supporter of the New York Public Library’s Dance Division. On his death in 1998, Robbins willed his archive to the Dance Division, which was re‐named in his honor. The Jerome Robbins Collection includes correspondence and other papers, artwork, film, video, and audio recordings. Jerome Robbins sitting on chair during rehearsal for West Side Story. Digital ID psnypl_the_4932, New York Public Library In March, 2011, I began work on preserving and cataloging more than 200 of these sound recordings with the help of Oral History Archive assistant Cassie Mey, and generous financial support from the Jerome Robbins Foundation. This audio collection includes working tapes relating to Robbins’s theater works, audio notebooks, and music and other recordings from his personal collection. The surprise was a number of items relating to current events of the 1950s and ‘60s, which demonstrate how Jerome Robbins was stimulated and influenced by the social and cultural ferment of these years. In particular, Robbins was keenly interested in the civil rights movement. One treasure discovered in the audio collection is “Project 65: Mississippi Summer,” a two‐hour radio documentary produced in 1965 by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, exploring the 1964 Mississippi Freedom Summer Project. This detailed, probing documentary allows activists and locals, blacks and whites, mayors and tenant farmers and schoolchildren to speak for themselves, creating a visceral yet thoughtful, multi‐faceted portrait of the cultural and moral clash surrounding the struggle for African‐American civil rights. Fannie Lou Hamer describes being beaten in a Winona, Mississippi jail; a young volunteer from Wisconsin canvases for the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party; the president of the pro‐segregation White Citizens’ Councils defends their purpose; farmer Hartman Turnbow describes his attempt to register to vote and the subsequent firebombing of his home. Produced less than a year after the events of the Freedom Summer, the documentary provides a rare contemporaneous look at the civil rights movement, long before its victory was assured. Also in the Jerome Robbins Audio Collection is an archival recording of a 1964 gathering of the Student Non‐
Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) in Greenwood, Mississippi, at which Harry Belafonte and Sidney Poitier (who are heard on the tape delivering speeches) appeared to present funds raised for SNCC; and radio news reporting about race riots in Detroit, Milwaukee, and other cities in July, 1967. A New Dance Oral History Project Interview, excerpt by Susan Kraft, Oral History Project Coordinator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, April 3, 2012 The first of our Spring Oral History Project interviews was just recorded and it was a true breath of fresh air. On March 19 and 26, 2012, Eva Yaa Asantewaa sat down to interview Marya Warshaw. Warshaw has been the Executive/Artistic Director of BAX/Brooklyn Arts Exchange (formerly The Gowanus Arts Exchange) since its founding in 1991. In 1998, BAX received a "Bessie" Award for its innovative work creating a house and a true home for the arts in Brooklyn. You can read about Yaa Asantewaa’s take on her experience at this writer’s fascinating blog. Eva Yaa Asantewaa and Marya Warshaw in the LPA Oral History Recording Studio. (Photo by Susan Kraft) 52 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 The staff of the Oral History Project has been producing in‐depth dance related oral history interviews since 1974, seeking to record and preserve stories that might otherwise go untold. Our mission is to add to the existing primary source documentation available in an art form which, by its very ephemeral nature, is challenging to preserve and study. We record oral histories with dancers, choreographers, scholars, administrators and designers. You can check out our links to descriptions of over 400 oral histories. DANCE DIVISION ON FACEBOOK To increase its online presence and outreach efforts, Arlene Yu created a Facebook page for the Dance Division on May 1, 2012. Featuring daily posts on Dance Division activities, dance in the news, and important dance history events, the Facebook page has grown its following to 122 fans in just over four months of existence. To become a Facebook fan of the Dance Division, from the Facebook home page type “Jerome Robbins Dance Division” (without quotes) in the Facebook search box at the top of the page. Select “Jerome Robbins Dance Division and Archive of the Recorded Moving Image” from the Pages section of the results. To navigate directly to the Dance Division’s Facebook page, in your browser address bar type “www.facebook.com/JeromeRobbinsDanceDivision.” Once on the Dance Division page, click on the “Like” button towards the upper right of the screen to become a fan and follow our posts. 4.5 Volunteers The Dance Division relies on the goodwill of volunteers to assist with many ongoing processing tasks. In fiscal year 2012 the Division was fortunate to have assistance from three volunteers: Barbara Cole, a former dancer and long time volunteer in the Division; Gayle Miller, a retired manager for Capezio's, and Sanja Andus L'Hotellier; and a new volunteer Bernard Resnick, a dance aficionado recently retired from a law office who started on January 20, 2012. In FY 2012, these three volunteers assisted the Dance Division for approximately 960 hours, adding new clippings, programs, and photographs to the collections, re‐ordering and condensing collections of programs and clippings, and preparing paper collections for processing and/or cataloging. Barbara Cole donated 552 hours, Bernard Resnick 226 hours and Gayle Miller donated 182 hours. Brief biography of Barbara Cole: Barbara Cole initially trained at the Washington School of Ballet. She has taught at the Washington Ballet, Harkness School of Dance, New York University, Adelphi University, the Joffrey Ballet School, and, for twenty years, at the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. She was taught dance for actors at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of Theater, where she was on the faculty for 35 years. She danced on Broadway in Song of Norway (choreography by George Balanchine), Oklahoma (Agnes de Mille), Music in My Heart (Ruth Page), and, in a revival of Ohlahoma, she was Shirley Jones’ dancing double in the dream ballet. Around her Broadway experience she danced for two years with Ballet Theatre in their London appearances and tours of the United States. She also dance and appeared in comedy sketches for one year in Sid Caesar show. As an actress, she performed at Washington’s Arena Stage in Taming of the Shrew, Pygmalion, Inspector General, and others. Her choreography for the Eglevsky Ballet, the musical Lucky Day and Faith of Our Fathers at Carter Barron Amphitheater won praises. While teaching, she operated a travel service for dance companies and individual travelers. After September 11, she gave up that business and began working as a volunteer at the Performing Arts Library’s Dance Division. Working part‐time three days a week, she has helped organize paper and photograph collections; filed additions to the Dance Division’s clippings, programs, and photographs; and created inventories of uncataloged posters and original artworks. She has frequently been assisted in these tasks by her husband, a former Marine Corps fighter pilot, Sam Folsom, now a volunteer on the Intrepid. She enjoyed her work organizating the Kenn Duncan photographs and helped to choose and identify images for the 2008 Duncan exhibition. She added a new dimension to her volunteering when she recently interviewed former New York City Ballet dancer Patricia Wilde for the Dance Division’s Oral History Project. 53 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 5. CONCERNS, GOALS, AND OBJECTIVES CONCERNS Staffing In the upcoming fiscal year, securing permanent positions for two temporary staff members, Arlene Yu, Specialist for the Moving Image Archive and Crystal Rangel working with Special Formats Processing on dance moving image records is imperative. The Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image, like Theater of Film and Tape Archive, has three full time staff members, except one of the Dance Division's staff, Arlene Yu, is now a temporary position. As is apparent from this report, the Moving Image Archive does an enormous amount of work with such a small staff. From acquisitions, to processing and preserving, from original documentations to blogging and grant writing, from exhibitions and loans, rights and clearances to collection maintenance, from emails and desk reference work, the Moving Image Archive performs at an exceptional level. To lose these two valuable staff members would make the Archive considerably less effective. Moving Image and Audio Backlog and Migration The Moving Image Archive also has some 5,000 reels of deteriorating, obsolete ¾” U‐matic dance videotapes that need to be cleaned, restored and migrated to digital files. The Oral History department has over 5,000 audio records that should be preserved to broadcast digital files. The Moving Image Archive would also like to continue transferring important films to videotape, including the films of Leonid Massine and all the unprocessed 8mm films. The Oral History Archive now creates and preserves its audio records in digital files and also needs this digital infrastructure and trusted repository for its materials. The dance audio archive will continue to work with the rest of LPA as well as NYPL to ensure a funded and staffed program in digital audio preservation with adequate infrastructure to support digital audio initiatives. Without such a program much of Dance’s irreplaceable audio material is in critical danger of being lost in the near future. Securing funding to process the two large paper, film and video collections received in this fiscal year, from Mikhail Baryshnikov and Merce Cunningham Dance Company is also of foremost concern. Reference The number of people using the collections, the number of patrons needing appointments for longer reference questions and issues, the number of emails and telephone calls increase with each leap forward of acquisitions and technological communication innovations. The rearrangement of the reference desks, leaving no reference desk on the third floor, and the move of the Special Collections room, need to be reconsidered for better service for the public. GOALS AND OBJECTIVES Paper‐based Materials With the assistance of the Manuscripts and Archives processing unit, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division is getting its backlog processed and available. Once these materials are processed at the Long Island Center facility and the finding aids are put on line in the Library's catalog, the boxes are returned to the Dance Division at Lincoln Center within in days. Often, before staff is even able to put the materials on the shelves, the public is asking to use the materials. Getting a handle on the backlog is a huge accomplishment which the Division could not have met without the help of the Manuscripts and Archives processing unit. At the same time, this huge number of boxes has to be shelved. The processing by Special Formats Processing of the prints and designs, rare books and photographs have created a need to rearrange the locked cage on the third floor. The basement and the storage shelving units at the Rose need to be shifted and inventoried, for more materials coming in and for storing newly processed collections. The photographs collections now stored in the Rose Building also need processing. A number of materials such as programs, serials and clippings files need bar codes and item level records created. 54 Jerome Robbins Dance Division Annual Report FY 2012 So the goals for the Paper‐Based Materials part of the Dance Division for the next few years will be  to finish the backlog  to keep the inventories of new materials and the new materials ready for processing  to shift and organize the locked cage of rare materials, the Rose Building Storage area, and the basement shelving units  to have the photography collections processed and available to the public  to get the programs, serials and clippings files bar coded and item level records created Moving Image and Audio Materials The Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image and Oral History Project have received a number of collections that they want to begin processing and preserving next year with temporary hired staff. In particular, the Mikhail Baryshnikov Archive and the Merce Cunningham Collection. With the Preservation Unit, the Moving Image Archive, including the Oral History Project, would like to continue to preserve the backlog of materials and transfer obsolete format materials to digital preservation files and digital delivery files. With the Digital Curator and the Digital Library the Moving Image Archive will continue to work towards a delivery system for digital files that can be seen on the Internet or only in the Performing Arts Library. The Moving Image Archive also hopes to complete two other multi‐year projects this coming year. One is the Khmer Dance Project described above. The other is Speaking of Dancing Project also described above. Administrative Goals The correspondence files for the Dance Division have been mixed over the years with all types of files and then weeded to create space for new files.The files weeded out were moved to the Rose Building over three different times, so locating older files can be very difficult. This year the Division arranged our area to hold five new file cabinets. With Senior Administrative Associate Amy Schwegel, we have moved the Original Documentation files and Oral History Project files to their own cabinets. We created another file cabinet for administrative records and the files for the Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and the Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Amy Schwegel is creating drop files to replace the old manila files. This year our goal is to finish going through the cabinets in the Dance Division and to begin to arrange the files left in the Rose Building. Social Media Goals The Dance Division wants to increase its online presence with more staff blogging on a regular basis and to continue to build our Facebook community. 55