DANC 200: Introduction to Dance

Instructor: Angella Foster
Librarian: Leahkim Gannett

The University of Maryland Libraries have many resources that will help with the research for your DANC 200 assignment. For additional help, please contact Leahkim Gannett, Reference Librarian, 301-405-9117, leahkim@umd.edu.

Most of the materials on dance are located in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library.

Hours of the Performing Arts Library.
Borrowing Materials from the Performing Arts Library.
Videorecordings are held in PAL and in Nonprint Media Services - located on the ground floor in the Hornbake Library.
Streaming videos are available from Film@UM and the Dance in Video Database

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Reference Resources - Start Here

Why start with these sources? Because they provide an excellent introduction to dance topics including people, dance companies, specific dances, dance types (salsa, hip hop...), dance in other countries and most other aspects of dance. In addition to the background/introduction, a list of references or citations are included for you to start gathering additional information. Search the catalog (for books) and the article search (for journal articles) to see if we own the material and in what format.

• International Encyclopedia of Dance. PA LIB REF GV1586.I586 1998 vols. 1-6

• Bremser, Martha. Fifty Contemporary Choreographers. PA LIB REF GV1785.A1B74 1999

• Giordano, Ralph. Social Dancing in America: a history and reference. PA LIB REF GV1623.G56 2001 vol. 1-2

• International Dictionary of Ballet. PA LIB REF GV1585.I57 1993

• International Dictionary of Modern Dance. PA LIB REF GV1585.B46 1998

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Locating Known Citations: Books and Journal Articles

Grubb, Kevin Boyd. Razzle dazzle:the life and work of Bob Fosse. St. Martins Press, New York, 1989.

Long, Robert Emmet. Broadway, the Golden Years: Jerome Robbins and the great choreographer-directors: 1940 to the present. NY: Continuum, 2001.

Here is an example of the bibliography from the International Encyclopedia of Dance for Mary Wigman

The most efficient way to locate the journal/magazine article (when you have the citation from another source - not when you are using a database) is to click on Research Port and use the following search box:

Kraut, Anthea. Between Primitivism and Diaspora: The Dance Performances of Josephine Baker, Zora Neale Hurston, and Katherine Dunham. Theatre Journal; Oct 2003, v.55, issue 3 p.433-450.

Perpener, John O. African American Dance and Sociological Positivism During the 1930s. Studies in Dance History; 1994, 5(1):23-30.

Jordon, Stephanie. "Dance and Gender: formalism and semiotics reconsidered." Dance Research 1994; 12, no. 2 pp3-14

Searching The Catalog for Books/Media on a Subject/Person

• Follow the LC subject headings for relevant books listed in the above reference sources.

• Start with a word/s anywhere search:
  danc* and gender (the * = truncation = dance or dancing or dancers...)
  shakespeare and danc*
  stravinsky and (ballet or danc*)
  ritual and danc* and asia*
  postmodern and danc*
  danc* and "social change"
  india and folk danc*

• If too many items are retrieved with the word/s anywhere search, revise the search and conduct a subject word/s search

• Follow the LC Subject Headings and the sub-divisions

  modern dance
  choreography
  

The broadest strategy = using the word/s anywhere search and placing the person's name in quotes: "mark morris". Depending on the person, you will need to add keywords to make sure you retrieve the correct person: (danc* or choreograph*)

In addition, again, depending on the person and how much is written about them, you can search by subject and then look at the sub-divisions:

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Databases, E-Journals, Find It

Research Port is the Libraries gateway to the databases and electronic journals and off campus access. When using a database, be sure to follow the link. This will direct you to the available online fulltext, the available print copy listed in the catalog, or Interlibrary Loan if online fulltext is not available and if the Libraries do not subscribe to the journal or needed vol/issue/s.

• International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance
  Comprehensive coverage of dance topics.

• America. History and Life.
  Most important database for research on any aspect of history in the United States and Canada. Limit by document type = article, limit by historical time period

• Historical Abstracts.
  Most important database for research on any any aspect of history outside of the United States and Canada
  Limit by language = english, limit by document type = article, limit by historical time period

• Academic Search Premier
  Multidisciplinary

• LexisNexis Academic
  Full-text, primary source for newspaper articles, including those from the Washington Post and the New York Times.

• NY Public Library Dance Catalog
  Lists the holdings of the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library. The collections consists of books, periodical articles, video recordings, and other media. All forms of dance, from all cultures, in many languages are included. There is NO link with the NY Public Library Dance Catalog. Check our catalog for book holdings, use the Research Port Article Finder for journal articles.

Depending on your topic, you will need to use other subject specific databases. For example, if you were conducting research on:
dance education: ERIC, Education Abstracts Complete
music related dance topic: RLIN, Garland Encyclopedia of World Music Online
ethnic related topics: Ethnic NewsWatch
Women/Gender Studies: GenderWatch, Womens Studies International, Contemporary Womens Issues.
Consult the databases by subject category

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MLA Style

Citing Sources Using the MLA Handbook

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