The Dance Heritage Coalition carries out its mission to preserve and document dance history by developing partnerships among the dance, library and scholarly communities. The DHC Fellowships in Dance Documentation and Preservation has been one of the most successful initiatives in serving these constituencies.
Since 2001, the DHC has awarded fellowships to students interested in dance history and preservation to gain experience processing dance materials at a DHC member organization, and apply that knowledge to another dance library, archive or dance company.
These fellowships fill an important need in offering hands-on experience in dance preservation and documentation–a field of performing arts librarianship that currently offers few training opportunities.
Dance companies, performing arts libraries and archives also benefit from the partnership because they receive the assistance of much-needed library or archive students who can help begin preserving their dance collections.
This year, the Jerome Lawrence and Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute of Ohio State University will host the Summer 2011 Fellow.
Past fellowships have included projects that involved one or more of the following:
• Collection management
• Basic archival assessment
• Rehousing various formats of dance materials (monographs, audio visual and photographs) for preservation
• Basic database and spreadsheet design
• Preserving choreography via Labanotation/dance notation
• Advising dance companies on best practices for organization and preservation of collections
• Description and/or cataloging of various dance-related materials
Follow Kat Bell's progress as Preservation Technician for the Dance Theatre of Harlem.
Support for the 2011 Summer Fellowships has been generously provided by the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.
The DHC also proudly announces the Frederic Woodbridge Wilson Memorial Fund to assist chosen fellows support the Fellowship Program.