Research Guide for Dance
Contact:
Jack Levine
,
Acquisitions Librarian
Getting Started
There are many handbooks,
dictionaries, and encyclopedias that describe dance terms, plots,
performers, etc. If you are not clear about your topic, try
establishing its limits with a good definition from a dictionary and
some introductory information from an encyclopedia. The following
sources can give you a quick overview of a topic:
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Encyclopedias and Handbooks
The Dance Encyclopedia
The Dance Handbook
The Simon and Schuster Book of the Ballet
Ref GV1585 .C5 1967
Long signed articles and short treatments of terms and types.
Ref GV1601 .R63 1990
Arranged by historical periods, an index by works, choreographers, and companies.
Ref GV1787 .B275313 1980
Biographies, works, companies, and some terms. Excludes modern dance and twentieth-century ballet.
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Dictionaries
International Dictionary of Ballet
Biographical Dictionary of Dance
Dance Words
Ref GV1585 .I57 1993
Includes worklists for performers and choreographers; excludes modern
dance except for a few notable choreographers; includes bibliography.
Ref GV1785 .A1 C58 1982
Emphasizes works choreographed and roles danced; includes some impresarios and composers.
GV1585 .P74 1995
Listing of terms by broad subject division.
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Histories, Including Video
Il Ballarino: The Art of Renaissance Dance (video)
Dancing (8-part video series)
Early Dance (2-part video series)
Le Gratie d'Amore (video)
Historical Dance (6-part video series)
Introduction to Baroque Dance (2-part video series)
Schwartz, French Court Dance and Dance Music
IMC GV1655 .B34 1991 video
Lecture-demonstration on Renaissance dance steps and dances, followed by performance of representative dances.
IMC GV1600 .D36 1993 video
Interviews and examples of both historical and international styles.
IMC GV1611 .E37 1995 video
History of dance traced from Greek comedies to the Baroque; historical
photos and sources with reconstructed modern performances.
IMC GV1747 .G73 1992 video
Demonstrations of European court dances of the late 1500's, based on original descriptions.
IMC GV1743 .B4 H5 1995 video
Historical introduction to each period, basic positions, exercises, and choreographic examples.
IMC GV1618 .I6 1999 video
IMC GV1618.I6 2005 DVD
The best presentation of social dances and their antecedents.
Ref GV1649 .S39 1987
Lists original sources along with modern reprints and translations. Divided by broad subject.
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Guides to the Literature
A Core Collection in Dance
Research in Dance: A Guide to Resources
Ref GV1594 .C67 2001
A listing of "essential published literature" (including video) in dance.
Ref GV1694 .B6R4 1994
Guide to dance archives, research sources, associations, periodicals, etc.
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Databases
Reed community only. Off campus access is available.
Indexes allow you to search the contents of periodicals to identify
articles on your topic. Some indexes are interdisciplinary, and some
focus on a particular subject area. Some indexes contain fulltext or
links to fulltext from other sources. Usually, after you find a
citation for an article, you will need to check the journal title list
to see if Reed subscribes to the journal and if we have the particular
issue. If the article is not available at Reed, you may request it
through Interlibrary Loan. For help using the journal title list, or finding journals in general, try How Do I Find Journal Articles?.
Dance on Disc (Networked CD, available on Windows machines in the library)
Humanities Abstracts (1984 - present) and Humanities and Social Sciences Index Retrospective (1907 - 1984)
International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance
International Index to the Performing Arts (1864 - present)
JSTOR (Coverage varies)
Lexis-Nexis Academic
Music & Performing Arts Portal
Project Muse (1993 - present)
ProQuest Historical Newspapers
RILM Abstracts (1967 - present)
WorldCat
Index to articles, reviews, etc. compiled by the New York Public Library’s Performing Arts Library.
Indexes over 460 core publications in the humanities.
Includes access to over 100 journals, books, and reference sources. Includes fulltext.
Indexing for over 160 international periodicals and newspapers on
dance, theatre, music, film, and performance art. Abstracts are
included for entries after 1997.
Searchable electronic archive of the fulltext of journals in many subject areas.
Use this for access to current reviews in the New York Times, as well as other major newspapers.
Brings together the International Index to Music Periodicals (IIMP) and the International Index to the Performing Arts
(IIPA) together in one site. Search both resources simultaneously to
find articles on music, theatre, dance, television, film, and other
performing arts.
Searchable electronic archive of the fulltext of hundreds of journals in many subjects, including dance.
Use this database for access to reviews in historical newspapers, including the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, and Boston Globe, among others. Coverage varies by title.
Citations of scholarly books, articles, essays, reviews, and dissertations. Two years behind in indexing.
The OCLC Online Union Catalog; over 24 million records describing items
owned by libraries around the world. Includes books, journal and
newspaper titles (but not references to individual articles), sound
recordings, musical scores, films, manuscripts, etc. published in any
year since about 1000. Includes Interlibrary loan button for easy
borrowing from other libraries.
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