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Encyclopedias, Dictionaries, and General Online Resources

International Encyclopedia of Dance. New York, Oxford University Press, 1998.
Location: REF GV 1585 .I586 1998.
This is the most wide-ranging, most up-to-date, best organized, and most useful starting point for research into any aspect of dance. Good international coverage. The bibliographies that accompany all of the articles are exhaustive. Use them to find journal articles, books and other resources on your topic.

The Concise Oxford History of Ballet. London, Oxford University Press, 1982.
Location: REF GV 1585 .K6313 1982
Not just limited to ballet. There is brief mention of other forms of dance and the bibliographical references will lead you to other resources.

International Dictionary of Ballet. Detroit, St. James Press, 1993.
Location: REF GV 1585 .I57 1993

The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians. 20 vols. London, Macmillan, 1980.
Location: REF ML 100 .N48

Musical America: International Directory of the Performing Arts. Great Barrington,
Mass., ABC Leisure Magazines, annual.
Location: REF ML 12 .M88
Covers both North American and international dance companies. There is also a regular chapter in each annual issue which is entitled 'The Year in Dance'. (The chapter title is 'American Dance' in older issues.) The current issue is in Reference and older issues are in the Stacks.

Ballet Plot Index: A Guide to Locating Plots and Descriptions of Ballets and Associated Material. New York, Garland, 1987.
Location: REF GV 1790 .A1 S77 1987

Selected Internet Resources > Performing Arts > Dance
Location: http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/dan/Intro.html
Includes sections on research and journals, dance by subject, companies, education, festivals and competitions, grants and funding, technology.

Ohio State University, Department of Dance.
Location: http://www.dance.ohio-state.edu/

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Location: http://www.nypl.org/research/lpa/dan/dan.html

Artslynx International Dance Resources.
Location: http://www.artslynx.org/dance/
Very well-organized and comprehensive. Recommended.

Library of Congress Internet Resources for Music, Theater and Dance.
Location: http://lcweb.loc.gov/rr/perform/new.internet.resources.html

New York City Ballet.
Location: http://www.nycballet.com/programs/reference.html
Sections about bibliography, discography, videography, periodicals, and historical research.

Cyberdance: Ballet on the Internet.
Location: http://www.cyberdance.org/
Links are organized into these sections: companies, education, people and organizations, and international.

Voice of the Shuttle: Dance Page.
Location: http://vos.ucsb.edu/browse.asp?id=3640

Yahoo Dance Page.
Location: http://d1.dir.scd.yahoo.com/arts/performing_arts/dance/
Voluminous. Covers almost all forms of dance.

Bibliographies and Guides to the Literature

For a complete list of guides to the literature in dance, do a Subject search in the library catalog using the search phrase "dance bibliography".

Research in Dance: Guide to Resources. New York, G.K. Hall, 1994.
Location: REF GV 1594 .D2 B6 1994
Sections on library collections and archives, reference sources, serials, reviews, and indexes. This is a useful overview of the literature.

Dancers and Choreographers: A Selected Bibliography. Wakefield, R.I., Asphodel, 1995.
Location: REF GV 1785 .D2 G48 1995

Dance: An Annotated Bibliography, 1965-1982. New York, Garland, 1986.
Location: STACKS GV 1594 .F58 1986
Author index and subject index.

New York Public Library Dance Collection. Bibliographic Guide to Dance. Boston, G.K. Hall, 1975 to 1997.
Location: REF GV 1594 .N4
Covers material dating back to the 15th century in the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library. Available electronically; see Dance On Disk on ALADIN, under 'Indexes to Journal Articles', below.

The Music and Dance of the World's Religions: A Comprehensive, Annotated Bibliography of Materials in the English Language. Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 1996.
Location: STACKS ML 128 .S17 R87 1996
Very comprehensive.

Researching the Music of Dance: A Guide to the Methodology, a Bibliography, a Discography, and Other Basic Information. ERIC microfiche document. 1980
Location: GELMAN MICROFORMS READING ROOM / ERIC DOCUMENT ED184546

Researching Theatrical Dance: A Guide to Basic Collections, Bibliographies, Etc. ERIC microfiche document. 1982
Location: GELMAN MICROFORMS READING ROOM / ERIC DOCUMENT ED225572

Biography

To find book biographies of individuals in dance, do a Subject search in the ALADIN Catalog using the search phrase 'dancers biography'. For books about a particular person, use a Subject search and the person's name; e.g. Nijinsky, Waslaw.

To access databases with a location of "ALADIN", click on the title of the database. To see a list of databases available through ALADIN, go to the ALADIN Home Page. Under "Databases by Title" on the right side of the screen, choose from the three alphabetical groupings.

ALADIN databases are available for use only by current GW students, staff, and faculty. If you are using this page from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter the barcode number from the back of your GWorld ID card before you can access the database.

Biographical Dictionary of Dance. New York, Schirmer, 1982.
Location: REF GV 1785 .A1 C58 1982

Biography and Genealogy Master Index.
Location: ALADIN
Excellent resource. Search by the person's name. The result is a list of the biographical resources that have an entry for that person.

World Dance

To find books on indigenous dance, use the ALADIN Catalog, Guided Keyword search. Use the phrase 'folk dancing' (or 'dance') as the first search term and the name of the country or region as the second search term.

Indexes to Videos and Films

Dance On Disk. 15th century to current
Location: CD-ROM Humanities Standalone Station (ask for assistance at the Reference & Information Desk)
This is the electronic version of the Bibliographic Guide to Dance, prepared by the New York Public Library. It includes films and videotapes, as well as photos, oral histories, manuscripts, books, pamphlets, programs, and journal articles.

The Dance Film and Video Guide. Princeton, N. J., Dance Horizons, 1991.
Location: REF GV 1595 .D32 1991
Over 2,000 works are listed. This is the place to start looking for a dance video.

Dance on Camera: A Guide to Dance Films and Videos. Lanham, Md., Scarecrow Press, 1998.
Location: REF GV 1595 .D342 1998

International Folk Music Council. Films on Traditional Music and Dance: A First International Catalogue. Paris, UNESCO, 1970
Location: GELMAN MEDIA RESOURCES ML 128 .M7 I5
Lists films of authentic folk dance, song, and instrumental music, together with associated customs and ceremonies. Good coverage of Africa.

Video Resources at Gelman Library

Gelman Library has a very extensive collection of video recordings. To find video recordings of particular works in the catalog, use a Guided Keyword search and search by that work's name, for example 'swan lake'. For videos of indigenous dances, use a Guided Keyword search and use the word 'dance' as the first element and the name of the country you are interested in for the second element. You may also limit the search, under 'Medium', to 'Videorecording'. These materials may only be used in the library.

Indexes to Journal Articles

To access databases with a location of "ALADIN", click on the title of the database. To see a list of databases available through ALADIN, go to the ALADIN Home Page. Under "Databases by Title" on the right side of the screen, choose from the three alphabetical groupings.

ALADIN databases are available for use only by current GW students, staff, and faculty. If you are using this page from off-campus, you will be prompted to enter the barcode number from the back of your GWorld ID card before you can access the database.

International Index to the Performing Arts Full Text. 1998-present, with some retrospective citations back to 1864.
Location: ALADIN
Indexing over two hundred journals in music and the performing arts fields with full text from over twenty of these titles.

Dance On Disk. 15th century to current
Location: CD-ROM Humanities Standalone Station (ask for assistance at the Reference & Information Desk)
This is the electronic version of the Bibliographic Guide to Dance, prepared by the New York Public Library. It is voluminous. It includes films, videotapes, photos, oral histories, manuscripts, books, pamphlets, programs, and journal articles.

RILM Abstracts of Music Literature. 1967 - current
Location: ALADIN
International bibliography of scholarly writings on music as well as music-related disciplines, including dance.

Sociological Abstracts. 1963-
Location: ALADIN
Look here for articles that treat dance in the sociological context. Good international coverage.

Anthropological Literature. 19th century-
Location: ALADIN
Use this to help find material on the anthropological aspects of dance. Extensive international coverage. Try here for material on indigenous folk dance and music.

America: History and Life. 1964-
Location: ALADIN
Strong on dance in native North American cultures and ethnic dance from all regions of North America.

Dissertations & Theses Online. 19th century -
Location: ALADIN
This is an index to doctoral dissertations accepted at accredited U.S. institutions since 1861. On the Advanced Search page you may combine search terms. For example, the search phrase 'subject(dance) AND india' will return citations for all those dissertations that use the subject index term 'dance' and that have the word india in either the title or the abstract. Dissertations written after 1996 are usually available for free downloading directly from this index. For assistance in getting a copy of a dissertation written prior to 1996, consult the Dissertations Research Guide.

ERIC. 1966-
Location: ALADIN
Major index to the literature in education, including journal articles. Coverage includes dance education and dance therapy.

ProQuest Research Library Plus. 1986-
Location: ALADIN
Look here for reviews in the general press.

Local Resources

The Dance Archives of the Greater Washington Region. George Washington University, Gelman Library.
This collection is housed in Special Collections here in Gelman Library, in Room 207. It consists of mostly print items (diaries, journals, programs, business records, articles, etc.) and a few video recordings. Among the organizations represented are The Friday Morning Music Club, the Metropolitan Dance Company, and a contemporary Asian American dance company called Moving Forward. The best way to access this collection is to make an appointment with a staff member in Special Collections. Be aware that Special Collections has different opening hours than the library.

Library of Congress. Performing Arts Reading Room.
Website: http://www.loc.gov/rr/perform/
Good reference collection. Includes music, theater, and dance. Check the web site for all particulars.

Library of Congress. American Folklife Center.
Website: http://www.loc.gov/folklife/
This center has a wealth of material on American indigenous music and dance. Check the web site for more information.

For more information, call the Reference Desk at 202-994-6048 or use the E-mail Reference Form. This page is maintained by Liz Harter.

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