Dance Subject Guide
LibKey Nomad
Research and Instruction Librarian for Music & Fine Arts
Remember to Evaluate Your Sources
Remember to critically evaluate Internet resources before using them in your research. See Evaluating Sources with ACCORD for help!
Useful Dance Video Websites
Dance Heritage Video Archive
Sponsored by USC Libraries and the USC Glorya Kaufman School of Dance, the DHVA “preserves culturally significant recordings that document global and U.S. dance traditions, creative work by outstanding choreographers and performers, and performances that helped to advance the art form.”
Digital Public Library of America (DPLA)
Search for a choreographer or dancer, then limit your results to "moving image." You may be linked out to the host institution's website to view the material.
Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive
Videos from the dance theater in Massachusetts. The search bar is hidden in the upper left corner of the page.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
The Library of Congress has a rich variety of digitized materials on dance. Use the filters to look for films or videos.
Merce Cunningham Trust
Go to The Work>Media to find videos of performances, classes, and interviews. The videos will link out to YouTube.
Numeridanse
Provides free, open access to a unique video collection including filmed performances, documentaries, interviews, and short and feature-length films; sponsored by La Maison de la danse de Lyon (The Lyon Dance Theatre).
In addition to these sites, you can always try Googling your choreographer and the word "archive" to see where their materials are kept (as with the Merce Cunningham Trust). In addition, living choreographer's professional websites will often contain authorized videos of their work.
Other Useful Dance Sites (not necessarily videos)
American Ballet Theatre
Consult the "repertory archives" section under the "Explore" tab for excellent information on choreographers, composers, and individual ballets (including premieres and plot synopses).
Dance Heritage Coalition
A nonprofit cooperative group of institutions with significant collections of historical dance materials.
George Balanchine Foundation
Includes an index to the Balanchine video archives at the New York Public Library.
Jacob's Pillow
Website for the festival first started by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis, with both historical and contemporary video excerpts.
Library of Congress Digital Collections
In addition to the American Memory collections, the Library of Congress has a rich variety of digitized materials on dance.
Merce Cunningham Trust
Information about current activities as well as links to Cunningham's digital archives at the New York Public Library.
New York Public Library -- Jerome Robbins Dance Division
The NYPL digital collections include oral interviews with dancers, dance photographs, and other materials. Most of the videos are not licensed to be viewed anywhere but at the New York Public Library, but this is still an excellent resource for photographs and text-based materials.
New York Public Library - Libguide for Systemic Racism, Protests, and Dance
A guide focusing on conducting research on racism and protests through a dance lens.
Sapphire Swan Dance Directory
This list of dance websites offers suggestions to begin browsing the Internet for information on your topic. Be careful, however: many of the links are out of date. Look under “Dance Styles" to find specific topics.