| NIPAD Grantees
Grant projects funded by NIPAD are listed below by year and alphabetically by grantee. For distribution information regarding any product or more complete information on the project, contact the project manager directly.
NIPAD Institution Grantees 1994
NIPAD Institution Grantees 1995
NIPAD Institution Grantees 1998
UCLA National Dance/Media Fellowships 1998
NIPAD Institution Grantees 1999
UCLA National Dance/Media Fellowships 1999
NIPAD Institution Grantees 2000
UCLA National Dance/Media Fellowships 2000
AMERICAN DANCE FESTIVAL (1999)
American Dance Festival, Inc., Durham, NC, received $126,017 over two years to extend its partnership with Duke University Libraries. The university serves a pivotal role in assisting ADF in preserving and providing access to its multi-format collection, while allowing ADF to retain ownership and full control. This project assures the preservation of ADF's seminal modern dance collection from the early 1930s to the present, and will increase physical and intellectual access to the collection. Duke University Libraries is providing resources often unavailable to an arts institution: a protective environment for its materials, invaluable technical advice, and expertise in areas such as computer and communications technologies. The archival procedures developed through this relationship and project will be comprehensively documented and disseminated in a Guide to Archival Collaboration: ADF and Duke University. This will serve as a template for other arts organizations interested in management of their records and archival materials, and in collaborating with university or community repositories and libraries. Contact: Charles Reinhart, Director, American Dance Festival, PO Box 90772, Durham, NC 27708-0772; 919/684-6402; fax, 919/684-5459; email, adf@AmericanDanceFestival.org.
AMERICAN TAP DANCE ORCHESTRA (1994)
American Tap Dance Orchestra, New York City, received $10,000 to preserve vintage [1975] footage of the legendary Copasetics: the late Charles "Honi" Coles, the late Charles "Cookie" Cook, Buster Brown, Leslie "Bubba" Gaines, Ernest "Brownie" Brown, and the late Albert Gibson, with the late James "Stump" Cross as Master of Ceremonies. The material captured on video explores the tradition of jazz and tap dance through interviews and dancing taped in rehearsal, workshop, and performance. This intimate collection reveals the spontaneous interaction among these artists who spent a lifetime developing and influencing an indigenous American art form. The results of this project were threefold. First 80 half-hour tapes representing the Copasetics' careers were organized, assembled, catalogued, and transferred to either Beta SP or Umatic formats. Second, video libraries of 37 of the best of these tapes were created for deposit in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and the National African-American Museum Project at the Smithsonian Institution, with an accompanying booklet containing historical background information on the footage and complete information on the contents of each tape. Third, the entire set of original half-inch reel-0to-reel videos was donated to The New York Public Library for safe storage. Contact: Tony Waag, Executive Director, American Tap Dance Orchestra, West Village Station, PO Box 20212, New York, NY 10014; phone/fax, 212/243-6438; email, ATDO@aol.com.
ARIZONA BOARD OF REGENTS (1994)
The Arizona Board of Regents for, and on behalf of, The Institute for Studies in the Arts at Arizona State University, Tempe, received $50,000 toward a project to permanently document the life work of dancer, choreographer, teacher and writer Daniel Nagrin. The project, divided into three phases, represented the first known optical disc model of the "Festschrift," a German scholarly term that means to look at the history of one's work at the end of a notable career and to examine the contributions of others whose work validates those achievements. Originally conceptualized as three laser discs, the project has been reconfigured to explore the possibilities of other technologies, including digital videodisc, CD-ROM, a laser disc set, or broadcast-quality video. The resulting product will include a montage of animated photographs chronicling Daniel Nagrin's career, previously produced footage of Nagrin performances, original and existing video recordings of Nagrin in the classroom, plus interviews and video samples of choreographers, dancers, composers, and colleagues he has influenced and mentored. Phase I, supported with NIPAD funds, included the gathering of support materials and video interviews with 19 participants, including Bill T. Jones, Meredith Monk, Eric Salzman, Gene Frankel, Shane O'Hara, Nina Watt, Mary Anthony, Charles Reinhart, Ze'eva Cohen, Stuart Hodes, Carla Maxwell, Arthur Waldhorn, Mel Rosenthal, Meriam Rosen, Carl Flink, Elina Mooney, Cliff Keuter, Ralph Lemon, and Darryl Thomas. Phase II included a brochure, a CD-ROM prototype and a 12-minute linear video. Until Phase III is complete, which will include final production, packaging and distribution, the project will not be accessible to the public. Contact: John Mitchell, Dance Coordinator, College of Fine Arts, Arizona State University, Box 872102, Tempe, AZ 85287-2102; 602/965-2709; email, john.Mitchell@asu.edu.
ATLATL, INC. (2000)
Atlatl, Inc., Phoenix, AZ, was awarded $150,000 to define the practical and cultural issues that impact the documentation of Native American dance and to produce a set of standards and protocols that will guide researchers, presenters and media producers, including both Native and non-Native peoples, in their interactions to document and preserve Native American dance activities. Atlatl also identified existing Native American dance materials that are housed in museum, library and archive collections throughout the country and make these materials accessible through a codified database and reference collection. The project was accomplished through information gathering meetings, case studies, research, an archival component, and fellowships. Contact: Andrea Hanley, Executive Director, Atlatl, Inc., PO Box 34090, Phoenix, AZ 85067; 602/277-3711; fax, 602/277-3690; email, atlatl@atlatl.org; website, www.atlatl.org.
CAMBODIAN NETWORK COUNCIL (1994)
Cambodian Network Council, Washington, DC, received $85,000 to document on film eight works of the Cambodian court dance repertory, complemented by videotaped interviews with master dancers and musicians still in Cambodia. Traditional Cambodian arts are an integral part of the spirit of the Khmer people. Since the oldest surviving masters of the Cambodian court dance repertory only carry in their memories the choreography of this unique court dance tradition, it was imperative to document and preserve as many pieces as possible and make them accessible to current generations of Cambodian Americans. The eight pieces, chosen by the project's artistic director in consultation with master dancers at the Royal University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, represent some of the oldest, most important and endangered items in the Cambodian court dance repertory. In Cambodia, 26 dancers, musicians and teachers were hired to participate. Six dances from the older repertory were filmed at various locations, including the pavilion at the Royal University of Fine Arts, the Chaktamouk Theater, the Chanchaya Pavilion at the Royal Palace complex, and the 13th-century temple site at Tonle Bati. Interviews were conducted with Her Royal Highness Princess Bopha Devi, a former dancer with the Cambodian Royal Ballet; Chheng Phon, a teacher, cultural leader and the former Minister of Culture in Cambodia; and Soth Sam On, the great master of the Giant role in the court dance repertory. In Arlington, VA, 16 local dancers were hired to participate in the filming of four dances. Interviews were conducted with a number of the younger dancers to explore their understanding of and relationship to the court dance repertory here in the United States. In late 1998, the interviews and documentary footage was transferred to digital videotape format. CNC plans to produce videotapes and/or a CD-ROM that explores the full context, transmission, and salient features of the Khmer rich and unique court dance tradition. The original materials and master tapes will be deposited in a suitable repository, with a working copy at CNC headquarters in Washington, DC. Contact: Pharann Chhuam, Executive Director, Cambodian Network Council, 713 D Street, NE, Washington, DC 20003; 202/546-9144; fax, 202/546-9147; email, cncnet@aol.com.
CHANGING TIMES TAP, INC. (1995)
Changing Times Tap, Inc., New York City, received $39,450 to transfer and preserve original footage of the tap festivals By Word Of Foot 1, 2 and 3, taken between 1978-1986, onto broadcast-quality tape, and to transcribe 250 hours of audiotape oral histories of many of the tap masters for broadcast distribution. About 110 videotapes were categorized, labeled, restored and transferred to Beta SP, audiotape interviews were transcribed, categorized, and labeled, and the entire collection was deposited in The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Dance Collection. Contact: Jane Goldberg, Director, Changing Times Tap, Inc., 310 Greenwich Street, Suite 13K, New York, NY 10013; 212/393-1182 .
CITY LORE, INC. (1995)
City Lore, Inc: New York Center for Urban Folk Culture, New York City, received $105,900 toward production and post-production of Bomba, a one-hour, broadcast-quality, bilingual (English/Spanish) film documenting traditional Afro-Puerto Rican bomba, as practiced by the legendary Cepeda family, known as the "patriarch family" of bomba. The work includes historical photographs and footage, contemporary performances, rehearsals, public events, and demonstration interviews showing the structure of the dance and its relationship to the solo drum. Bomba has been screened at the Festival Latinoamericano de Cine y Literatura in Rotterdam, the international conference of the Society for Ethnomusicology, and the 19th Bilan du Film Ethnographique at the Musee de l'Homme, Paris, where it was named Best Music Film by the Ethnographic Society of France, the Los Angeles Latino International Film Festival, the Etnosio Ethnic Music Festival in Helskinki, Finland, and the New York International Latino Film Festival. Contact: Roberta Singer, Director of Music Programs, City Lore, 72 East First Street, New York, NY 10003; 212/529-1955.
CROSS-CULTURAL DANCE RESOURCES, INC. (1995)
Cross-Cultural Dance Resources, Inc., Flagstaff, AZ, received $9,200 to inventoryt, document, preserve, and make available the collection of Gertrude Prokosch Kurath, the "mother" of dance ethnology. The Collection includes boks and journals, correspondence, films, photographs, costumes and instruments. With the help of an archivist from the Northern Arizona University Cline Library Special Collections and a librarian from the Flagstaff Public Library as advisors, the detailed inventory is included in a coputer database; original 8mm and 16mm films, photos, and magnetic tapes have been preserved, with copies made for research purposes; and artifacts have been organized, labeled, and stored in proper archival packaging. A finding aid is being developed that will be made available to the public. Contact: Joann Kealiinohomoku, Esecutive Director, Cross-Cultural Dance Resources, 518 South Agassiz Street, Flagstaff, AZ 86011-5711; 602/774-8108; email, joann.kealiinohomoku@au.edu.
CUNNINGHAM DANCE FOUNDATION, INC. (1995)
Cunningham Dance Foundation, Inc., New York City, received $24,700 to inventory and preserve the personal choreographic notes of Merce Cunningham as the original evidence of the process of his reinvention of dance, and in some cases, the only evidence of the dance itself. Dubbed the "Notes Project," choreographic notes from 43 dances dating to 1953 were photocopied to acid-free paper, scanned on computer files, catalogued, and archived. Copies were made for Merce's use in reviving older dances. The organization has established a system to continue the process of documenting and preserving all of Merce's choreographic notes, though the notes are not currently available to the public. Contact: Sonya Robbins, Project Coordinator, Cunningham Dance Foundation, Inc., 55 Bethune Street, New York, NY 10014; 212/255-3130; email, Sonya@merce.org.
DANCE NOTATION BUREAU, INC. 1998
Dance Notation Bureau, Inc., New York City, received $121,880 to create a technological interface tool between LabanWriter, a word processing-like program for dance notation, and Life Forms, an animation program created for choreographers to plan and visualize a dance. The interface allows LabanWriter scores to be translated into animation, providing easier visualization of the movement without the expense of rehearsals and dancers. It saves time and cost for notators, reconstructors and companies, allows computer-generated movement through Life Forms to be displayed in Labanotation, and provides easier access to dance scores, through animation, for any who are not proficient in Labanotation. The Dance Notation Bureau will disseminate information about this project, its participants and results through its newsletter, website, the press, conferences, and presentations. Contact: Ilene Fox, Executive Director, Dance Notation Bureau, 151 West 30th Street, Suite 202, New York, NY 10001; 212/807-7899; fax, 212/675-9657; email, notation@mindspring.com.
DANCE RESEARCH FOUNDATION, INC. (1994)
Dance Research Foundation, Inc., New York City, received $15,000 for Jonnie Green and Dawn Lille to preserve, through oral histories and photography, the history of black ballet dancers before 1970. The original goal of the project was to identify further and document those individuals who had trained in classical ballet, performed in ballet companies (black and white), went on to careers in non-balletic genres, or left dance altogether. In the earliest case (1937), they were part of a company that used the term ballet, but was actually modern. "Classic Black: Oral Histories of Black Dancers in Ballet Before Dance Theatre of Harlem" (shortened to "Classic Black") stemmed from an oral history project begun in 1989 and funded by PSC/CUNY. NIPAD funded an additional 20 interviews (24 were already completed) and supported the collection, identification and preservation of photographs, programs and memorabilia. Also intended was the creation of a photographic exhibition and symposia at which the teachers, dancers and choreographers could meet and talk.
The project resulted in the recording and transcribing of more than 21 new oral histories, a photo exhibition at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts between February 9 and April 27, 1996, and two free, public symposia with many of the subjects of these oral histories at The New York Public Library's Bruno Walter Auditorium. The Dance Collection staff at the library became integral in creating the exhibition and symposia; archival materials continue to be donated and contributed to the collection. In August 1997, "Classic Black" was the first exhibit at the re-opening of the Gem Theatre in Kansas City, MO; other cities, thus far, include St. Louis, Washington, DC (at the Anacostia Museum of The Smithsonian Institution), and Philadelphia (at the School of the Arts in conjunction with the conference "2000 Feet"). Contact: Dawn Lille, 34 Gramercy Park East, Apt. 5B, New York, NY 10003; fax, 212/253-9772; dlhorwitz@aol.com.
CHARLES DENNIS (1999 Fellow)
Charles Dennis, Brooklyn, NY, was awarded $31,643 over 18 months to make a video documentary, Homecoming (working title), that celebrates and illustrates 20 years of dance at Performance Space 122 in New York City. Ten choreographers and their dancers re-created seminal works originally performed at P.S. 122, and, in some cases, performed new works. They were documented during a special, one-week taping session that took place during the first week of March 2000. The completed documentary will include interviews and archival footage of the re-created and other older works, with additional commentary provided by critics, presenters and other leading figures in the field of dance. Featured artists include Ronald K. Brown, Ann Carlson, Yoshiko Chuma, Dancenoise, Mark Dendy, Ishmael Houston-Jones, Charles Moulton, Jennifer Monson, Sally Silvers, and Doug Varone. Contact: Charles Dennis, 360 Clinton Avenue, Apt. 5F, Brooklyn, NY 11238; 718/398-8422; email, chasdennis@aol.com.
ERICK HAWKINS DANCE FOUNDATION, INC. (1994)
Erick Hawkins Dance Foundation, Inc., New York City, received $50,000 to document 30 Hawkins technique exercises via Beta video with an accompanying manual of descriptive text and dance notation of the exercises. Classes with Mr. Hawkins and company members were scheduled to be filmed and an in-camera edit of this new footage, together with Foundation archival footage, was proposed. This video would have been a one soundtrack, non-broadcast quality tape. Mr. Hawkins died soon after the start of this project, the company underwent administrative restructuring, and the project stalled. Subsequently, with company alumni intervention, the project was reorganized as a more extensive presentation, including a summary of Mr. Hawkins' background, the development of the principles behind his technique, and an introduction to his aesthetic philosophy. These enhanced goals emphasized the universality of Hawkins' discoveries in technique beyond the scope of the 30 exercises. The video was redesigned as a broadcast-quality product with more extensive use of archival footage, and the manual added more in-depth text, including the originally proposed notation with accompanying illustrations, photographs and a chronicle of Mr. Hawkins' choreographic works. The project's results are also available through Princeton Book Company. Contact: Renata Celichowska, Project Coordinator, Erick Hawkins Dance Foundation, c/o NYU Dance Education Department, 35 W. 4th Street, Room 675, New York, NY 10003; 212/226-5363; fax, 212/995-4560.
FRIENDS OF GANONDAGAN, INC. (1995)
Friends of Ganondagan, Inc., as fiscal agent on behalf of the Tonawanda Band of Senecas, Victor, NY, received $105,000 to document and preserve, through a combination of techniques and media, the songs, religious invocations, dances and expressive dance movements of the Tonawanda Band of Senecas Longhouse tradition. These dances and songs are social, ceremonial and medicine-society dances. A community archive is planned for the Chief's Council building to house all the documentary materials associated with this project and all other cultural retention efforts that occur in that community. Contact: Linley Logan, Project Director, Tonawanda Band of Senecas, 9001 Phinney Avenue North, Seattle, WA 98103; 206/297-8171.
HALEAKALA, INC. (2000)
Haleakala, Inc., dba THE KITCHEN, New York, NY, was awarded $135,000 to restore The Kitchen's dance videotape collection and create a working archive for experimental dance using the tapes currently held in its collection and incorporating documentation of performances presented during the season. The archive will become a useful tool and programming model for other presenters and dance companies interested in the history, preservation, and contextualization of contemporary dance. In addition to the creation and enrichment of live programming initiatives, long-term plans through 2003 linked to the renovation of The Kitchen's building site include the creation of a video archive viewing room, video streaming, and website links for worldwide access to the new and archived tapes. Contact: Christina Yan, Media Director, Haleakala, Inc., 512 W. 19th Street, New York, NY 10011; 212/645-4258; email, info@thekitchen.org; website: www.thekitchen.org.
VALIDA HADZIMURATOVIC-CARROLL (2000 Fellow)
Valida Hadzimuratovic-Carroll, Venice, CA, was awarded $22,320 to film an hour-long video documentary of club dancing in New York City, San Francisco and Los Angeles. The video concentrated on the electronic music genre called "jungle," also called "drum 'n' bass," a relatively new club dancing style. Contact: Valida Carroll, 244 Dimmick Avenue, Venice, CA 90291; fax, 310/822-1761; email, valida@ucla.edu
HAMILTON HILL 'DROP-IN' ARTS AND CRAFTS CENTER, INC. (1995)
Hamilton Hill 'Drop-In' Arts and Crafts Center, Inc., Schenectady, NY, as fiscal agent on behalf of Nancy Ladd Muller, received $25,500 to identify catalogue and preserve the collection of Dr. Pearl Primus from her prmary residence in New Rochelle, NY, and a private residence in Brattleboro, VT. Included in this collection are choreographic notes, art, textiles, African masks, costumes, ethnographic films of dance from the African continent, msucial instruments, African drums and first-generation tapes of recorded music and dance. About 200 boxes, including a collection of photographs, films, slides, and sound-recording tapes, from the Brattleboro site were opened and the contents labeled, described, and recorded by hand on a form specifically designed for this purpose. Also, a computer database was developed for the project, and African artifacts from the New Rochelle site were identified and placed in safe storage. Contact: Nancy Ladd Muller, Project Director, 24 Hillwinds Road, Brattleboro, VT 05301.
JOHANNES HOLUB (1998 Fellow)
Johannes Holub, New York City, received $18,586 to videotape the reconstruction and setting of the ballet Champion by choreographer Sophie Maslow on the Limon Dance Company, and incorporate oral histories and iconography. More than 30 hours of rehearsal footage of Sophie Maslow and Donald McKayle working with the Limon Company at Jacob's Pillow was shot, along with three hours of Maslow discussing her work on this project and others. The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts commissioned a two-camera live shoot of the revival of Champion at The Joyce Theatre. Materials are available for dance scholarship at the New York Public Library, the Jose Limon Dance Foundation and the Sophie Maslow Foundation. Contact: Johannes Holub, 739 West 186th Street, Suite 6H, New York, NY 10033; phone/fax, 212/781-1982.
HOUSE FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, INC. (1994)
The House Foundation for the Arts, Inc., New York City, received $25,000 to produce a one-hour, black-and-white and color Betacam video documentary tracing Meredith Monk's Education of the Girlchild over 20 years by contrasting the black-and-white footage from the remaining fragments of the 1973 performances against color footage from the May 1993 revival performances, and adding other archival material and oral histories. Meredith Monk and the original cast were interviewed, individually and as a group, about their experiences working on the two productions; the 1993 Joyce Theater footage has been edited. Funds to complete the project are being sought. Contact: Barbara Dufty, Managing Director, The House Foundation for the Arts, 306 W. 38th Street, Suite 401, New York, NY 10018-2904; 212/904-1330; fax, 212/904-1305; email, monk@meredithmonk.org
JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL (1999)
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Lee MA, received $116,017 over two years to support the development of the Festival Documentary Project, an approach for capturing the Festival experience based on methods of documentary filmmaking. The purpose of the Festival Documentary Project is to capture the historical, cultural, social and artistic contexts in which dance traditions and innovations are shared. The project will also offer access to high-quality documentation for the wide range of artists presented at The Pillow, some of whom are not able to secure documentation for themselves. Funds will be used to pilot the production of semi-annual Video Journals that will translate the Festival experience into portable formats that will be accessible year-round, and will address existing and potential gaps in the archival record. Themes and subjects related to the artistic programming will be selected and prioritized based on their documentary value for the field. Both new and historical footage will be used to articulate interrelationships among a diverse range of artists, forms and traditions. Funds will also be used to acquire broadcast quality video recording and editing equipment for this purpose. The developed process and procedures will be broadly disseminated via the Pillow's website, field conferences, onsite Leadership Forums for dance presenters, and through a comprehensive implementation guide to be compiled at the conclusion of the pilot phase. The resulting Video Journals will be distributed gratis to participating artists and members of various national and local professional networks. Contact: Ella Baff, Executive Director, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, PO Box 287, Lee, MA 01238; 413/637-1322; email: ebaff@jacobspillow.org.
JACOB'S PILLOW DANCE FESTIVAL, INC. (1995)
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Inc., Lee, MA, received $65,575 to preserve and make accessible its archives by safeguarding endangered materials, raising the technical standards of the archives, and increasing public access to the collection. The Stabilization and Access Project duplicated and safeguarded hundreds of videotapes; established storage, handling, maintenance and usage procedures; instituted a seasonal archive assistant position; and developed systems and exhibits (30 photos for its 1996 exhibit and for inclusion in the Pillow's permanent rotating exhbit collection)( for public access to the collection. Contact: Ella Baff, Executive Director, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, PO Box 287, Lee, MA 01238; 413/637-1322; fax, 413/243-4744; email, ebaff@jacobspillow.org.
POOH KAYE (2000 Fellow)
Pooh Kaye, Worcester, NY, was awarded $31,879 to create a one-hour documentary titled Four Women in a Tree. The documentary focused on four choreographers (Anna Halprin, Simone Forti, Pooh Kaye and Jennifer Monson) who share a choreographic lineage that spans 55 years. Kaye documented the transmigration and subsequent transformation of ideas, physiological gestures and passions that affected the work of these four iconoclastic artists. Contact: Pooh Kaye, 460 Co. Hwy. 40, Worcester, NY 12197; fax, 607/397-7510; email, poohkaye@dmcom.net.
SHARON KINNEY (1998 Fellow)
Sharon Kinney, Venice, CA, received $27,550 to direct the video documentary From the Horse's Mouth, a dance piece conceived by James Cunningham and Tina Croll. The dance features 24 highly respected dancers, choreographers and performers. In the dance piece, the audience hears participants talk about their lives as artists and watches them create and perform their own dance style in a structured improvisation. Warm, funny, and nostalgic, these stories each have a common theme: an unquestionable and unquenchable love of dance. In the video documentary From the Horse's Mouth, director Sharon Kinney reveals through interviews with Cunningham, Croll and the dancers, the inspiration and structure of the dance piece. It follows the performers/choreographers through the rehearsal process to the performances, juxtaposing and interlacing the events and their interviews leading up to the opening night, against their performances in the piece. The film captures these artists together for this event and reveals their passion for their art form and for each other at that moment in time.The video is available for purchase directly from Sharon Kinney. Contact: Sharon Kinney, 1611 Penmar Avenue, #4, Venice, CA 90291; 310/396-6112; email, skinney100@earthlink.net.
LINDA LEWETT (2000 Fellow)
Linda Lewett, Brooklyn, NY, received $27,522 to create an hour-long television documentary on the history of Dance Place in Washington, DC. The focus of the program was the September 2000 concert called "The Washingtonians," the 20th-anniversary celebration of Dance Place, which featured 20 dance artists who have had an affiliation with Dance Place and who have made a significant impact on dance in Washington, DC. A preliminary showing of the documentary was done in March 2001 at a NIPAD in Your Neighborhood program at Dance Place. Contact: Linda Lewett, 293 Rugby Road, Brooklyn, NY 11226; email, ARTtv@aol.com.
LIVING ARCHIVES, INC. (1994)
Living Archives, Inc., New York City, received $65,000 toward the production of an archival film by D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, documenting the life and work of master teacher Bessie Schonberg and her influence on choreographers, dancers, designers and theater artists. Actual classroom teaching situations and interviews with noted choreographers were source materials. More than 19 hours of film were shot and digitized. Ms. Schonberg was involved in the project until her death in May 1997. Bessie: A Portrait of Bessie Schonberg, a one-hour video, has been screened at New York's 92nd Street YMHA, for Sarah Lawrence alumnae, at New York University, on PBS' WNET in New York City, and at the DoubleTake Documentary Film Festival in Durham, NC. Contact: D.A. Pennebaker, Executive Producer, Living Archives, 262 West 91st Street, New York, NY 10024; 212/496-9195; fax, 212/496-8195.
LAURA MARGULIES (1998 Fellow)
Laura Margulies, New York City, received $15,840 to produce and complete a short, animated film inspired by the Hawaiian dance form, the hula. Work is in progress for this project. Contact: Laura Margulies, 87 St. Marks Place, Apt. 2C, New York, NY 10009.
MOMENTA, INC. (1995)
Momenta, Inc., Oak Park, IL, received $14,850 for a consortia including The Doris Humphrey Society, Ernestine Stodelle, Reusch Dance Video and Princeton Book Company, to complete editing of five instructional videotapes, one each to accompany the otated scores of Doris Humphrey's Air for the G String (1928), Water Study (1928), The Call/Breath of Fire (1929), The Shakers (1931), and Two Ecstatic Themes (1931). These coaching tapes now accompany the labanotated scores when one of these dances is licensed by the Dance Notation Bureau. A set has been donated to the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Dance Collection, and the videos can be purchased through Princeton Book Company. Contact: Stephanie Clemens, MOMENTA Performing Arts Company, 605 Lake Street, Oak Park, IL 60302; 708/848-2329.
MORRISON-SHEARER FOUNDATION AND MUSEUM (1994)
Morrison-Shearer Foundation and Museum, Chicago, IL, received $10,000 to preserve 16mm films by Helen Balfour Morrison that document the choreography (15 works) and performances of Sybil Shearer and several conversations with leading dance artists and critics during the middle decades of the 20th century. Internegatives, optical soundtrack negatives, check prints, release prints, and photoguarding of several of the works have been completed to date. Contact: Alida Szabo, Trustee, Morrison-Shearer Foundation and Museum, 401 North Lee Road, Northbrook, IL 60062; 773/262-2643.
NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, INC. (1995)
New York Foundation for the Arts, Inc., New York City, received $45,650 as fiscal agent on behalf of Anne Belle to document the work of master teacher Stanley Williams of the School of American Ballet, with special emphasis on the training of boys and men for ballet. Funds were awarded to complete the filming and editing of interviews with Mr. Williams and some of the major dancers he has trained, including Edward Villella, Mikhail Baryshnikov, Peter Martins, and Darci Kistler. Mr. Williams died in the fall of 1997. The project is in post-production. Contact: Anne Belle, Seahorse Films, 12 Harrison Street, New York, NY 10013; 212/226-0294.
NEW YORK FOUNDATION FOR THE ARTS, INC. (1994)
New York Foundation for the Arts, Inc., as fiscal agent on behalf of Sally Sommer, New York City, received $85,000 to complete a broadcast quality video of Check Your Body at the Door, a one-hour documentary on the extraordinary dances and dancers of the New York City underground club scene. Co-produced with Bobbi Tsumagari, the documentary is finished to a rough cut. With international interest in the project, Sommer collaborated in a three-day conference and performance, New York Meets Vienna, in Austria, with panels on cross-cultural dissemination of popular dance and music between Europe and America. The dancers have also taught and lectured in Amsterdam, Toulon, and Tokyo, and in Paris 10-minute promotional excerpts of the documentary were shown as part of the festival Danse Noir at the Cinamatheque Francaise. The dancers have performed with the companies of Doug Elkins and David Neuman. The project received additional funding from the National Endowment for the Arts; fundraising for the completion of the video is underway. Contact: Sally Sommer, Project Director, 9 West 10th Street, New York, NY 10011; 212/673-9303; email, salsom@acpub.duke.edu.
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY, ASTOR, LENOX, AND TILDEN FOUNDATIONS (1995)
New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations, New York City, received $84,175, for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts Dance Collection to implement a two-part oral history project to (1) record, transcribe, preserve and catalogue the oral histories of 21 artists and scholars, with specific emphasis on The Joffrey Ballet, Doris Humphrey, concert dance, African-American tap and pop dance, eccentric dance, and dance scholarship and criticism; and (2) preserve oral history records audiotaped in a limited access format and in danger of deterioration. Interview highlights included a rare interview with Jerome Robbins; interviews with Harriet Browne and Jimmy Slyde (on the evolution of dance during the 1920s and 1930s)); observations by Doris Hering and Selma Jeanne Cohen (dance historians), among others. About 400 catalogued items were protected against deterioration and transferred to archival-quality tape, with listener copies dubbed onto cassettes. The total number of items preserved through the project, including the new interviews, totaled 522. They have been listed in the Research Libraries Network (RLIN) and the Online Computer Library Center (PCLC) bibliographic databases. They can also be accessed through the Dance Collection NYPL website, www.nypl.org. Contact: Madeleine Nichols, Curator, Dance Collection, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498; 212/870-1655; fax, 212/799-7975; email, mnichols@nypl.org.
NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY FOR THE PERFORMING ARTS (1998)
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dance Collection, New York City, received $139,060 to mount the Collaborative Editing Project. Its goal was to extend, through the editing process, the creative partnership between videographer and artistic director so as to produce dance documents that provide the clearest and most accurate representation of choreographic work. The Dance Collection established an in-house editing suite and created six partnerships to explore the technical possibilities, aesthetic languages, and artistic requirements of choreography and videography necessary to develop superior, representative performance records. Artistic Director Kewulay Kamara, along with choreographers Neil Greenberg, Lar Lubovitch, Catherine Turocy, Eiko & Koma, and a choreographer working with The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater, were teamed with videographers Juan Barrera and Molly McBride, Mamadou Niang, Jay Millard, Johannes Holub, and Jerry Pantzer. Two public programs involving the project's participants have taken place. The dissemination of the printed publication describing the contents and findings of the project, and internet distribution will be among the ways that the Dance Collection will communicate information to dance practitioners and others. Contact: Madeleine Nichols, Curator, Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498; 212/870-1655; fax, 212/799-7975; email, mnichols@nypl.org.
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION AND DANCE DEPARTMENT (1994)
The Ohio State University Department of Dance, assisted by the Research Foundation, in Columbus, OH, received $50,000 for a team of researchers to develop and test an interactive multimedia dance documentation model using works of selected dance artists, and to disseminate re-usable technological components. The project, titled the Ohio State University Multimedia Dance Prototype (OSU-MDP), was conceived by Vera Maletic and Scott Sutherland and developed with A. William Smith, Candace Feck, and Joukje Kolff. The creation of the CD-ROM Victoria Uris: Choreographer and Videographer served as the basis for developing the prototype.
The prototype methodology and shell have been passed on to 96 international dance professionals by means of six Multimedia Dance Documentation workshops since 1996. In addition, an intensive one-day workshop was offered before Congress on Research in Dance (CORD) conference in November 1998. Seventy-six participants initiated individual projects in documenting and presenting areas of Western and non-Western dance. Excerpts from projects can be viewed online at www.dance.ohio-state.edu by clicking on OSU-MDP, then clicking "participants" and selecting a category. The second edition of the interactive CD-ROM Victoria Uris: Choreographer and Videographer is available from Media Products Coordinator, The OSU Department of Dance, 1813 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43210. The CD-ROM runs on both Macintosh and Windows platforms. Contact: Vera Maletic, Project Administrator, Department of Dance, Ohio State University, 1813 North High Street, Columbus, OH 43210; 614/294-1729; fax, 614/292-0939; email, maletic.1@osu.edu.
OHIO STATE UNIVERSITY RESEARCH FOUNDATION AND DEPARTMENT OF DANCE (1998)
Ohio State University's Department of Dance, assisted by the Research Foundation, Columbus, OH, received $139,060 for technical directors A. William Smith (1998-99) and Roberta Shaw (1999-00) and content director Vera Maletic to develop a multimedia database prototype and shell. The prototype project resulted in a DVD-ROM and DVD-Video set, which documents the 1998 work Going to the Wall, by choreographer Bebe Miller. The archival DVD contains more than 13 hours of video, hundreds of pages of text, photos, designs, notes and full-screen digital version of the hour-long work. The shell program, danceCODES provides dance professionals with a means to create an interactive, archival database of a dance-piece or dance tradition. DanceCODES provides all of the programming and layout; users of danceCODES need only drop their materials into specific folders on their hard-drive. The danceCODES Shell program is available at no charge from the danceCODES website: http://www.dance.ohiostate.edu/products/dancecodes. A CD-ROM of the danceCODES program along with an example project on Rain, by Bebe Miller is available free to the dance community from The Ohio State University, Department of Dance. Contact: Vera Maletic, Project Administrator, Department of Dance, Ohio State University, 1813 N. High Street, Columbus, OH 43210-1307; 614/294-1729; email, maletic.1@osu.edu.
OHIO UNIVERSITY FOUNDATION (1999)
Ohio University Foundation, Athens, OH, received $125,466 over two years to organize, preserve and make accessible the Nikolais/Louis archive, including papers, film, video and audio tapes, and photos, and to develop a web presence for worldwide access that features the archives. Mr. Louis is instrumental in all phases of the project from film stripping and sound matching to selecting materials for the website. The department will develop a modular website that both gives a diachronic view of the development of the artists' work over several decades and gives basic insights into the art of modern dance. Modules will be centered on the historical development of the artists' work, on significant techniques employed by each, on special events and time periods in the work, and on seminal people and places. These modules will have cross-references and links to help contextualize and relate the information. The department will provide access to this website nationally and internationally through the Digital Media Center at OhioLINK, which is a statewide and state-funded library and information network linking universities, colleges, technical and community colleges, and the State Library of Ohio. A journal will be written that documents the process of creating the Nikolais/Louis Archive, from issues of transference through arrangement, description and preservation, to digitization and web development. Contact: George Bain, Head, Archives and Special Collections, Ohio University Libraries, 506 Alden Library, Athens, OH 45701; 740/593-2713; email, gbain1@ohiou.edu.
PRESERVE, INC. (1994)
Preserve, Inc., New York, NY, received $50,000 to establish a dance documentation and preservation training institute in partnership with the State University of New York College at Purchase to teach participants how to document and preserve dance through a variety of methods and to produce two video products, Dance Archives and Filming Dance. Although an unsuccessful attempt was made to initiate the training institute, Dance Archives: A Practical Manual for Documenting and Preserving the Ephemeral Art, was published by Preserve, Inc., in 1995 and won an award for outstanding archival publication from the Mid-Atlantic Regional Archives Conference. Dance Archives was distributed to more than 550 individuals, dance companies, and libraries. Contact: Leslie Hansen Kopp, Executive Director, Preserve, Inc., PO Box 28, Old Chelsea Station, New York, NY 10011-0028; 212/741-7163; fax, 212/741-6452.
MITCHELL ROSE (2000 Fellow)
Mitchell Rose, Hollywood, CA, was awarded $18,279 to film a suite of four dances called Modern Daydreams, an expansion of work begun during Rose's UCLA fellowship. The video includes the choreographers and dancers of BodyVox, a Portland-based dance company. The film can be viewed online at www.hypnotic.com, and is available in VHS and DVD formats through BodyVox. Modern Daydreams was featured at each of the NIPAD in Your Neighborhood presentations in 2001. The film won the "Wemmy" award at the Pixie Awards in Hollywood and an award at the Silver Lake Film Festival in Los Angeles. Contact: Mitchell Rose, 2021 Whitley Terrace Steps, Hollywood, CA 90068; email, RedRedRose@mindspring.com.
SAN FRANCISCO PERFORMING ARTS LIBRARY AND MUSEUM (1994)
The San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum, San Francisco, CA, received $75,000, to establish a consortium with the Bay Area Video Coalition, World Arts West, and Theater Artaud for a pilot project titled Learning Applications to Document Dance. This approach was designed to increase awareness of the uses and issues related to all kinds of documentation and focus on improving the quality of video documentation through training. Over two years, this project established infrastructures in the dance and media communities for on-going video documentation, trained 10 videographers, and created a two-camera, high-end package available to the dance community at reduced rates. A detailed report of the project's findings is available through SFPALM. Contact: David Humphrey, Executive Director, San Francisco Performing Arts Library and Museum, 401 Van Ness Avenue, 4th floor, San Francisco, CA 94102; 415/255-4800; fax, 415/255-1913; email, info@sfpalm.org.
EVANN SIEBENS and MARK EBY (1998 Fellows)
Evann Siebens, New York City, and Mark Eby, Los Angeles, CA, received $38,024 in a collaboration to create Hula beyond Hawaii, a documentary that explores the Hawaiian community living on the mainland and how hula acts as a catalyst to bring them together to celebrate their identity. Kumu hulas and their halaus included in the video come from San Francisco, Santa Monica, Burbank, Oakland, and Carson, CA. Contact: Evann Siebens, Bluestocking Films, 58 E. First Street, Suite 6D, New York, NY 10003; 212/334-0349; email, bluefilms@aol.com. Contact: Mark Eby, 11811 Venice Boulevard, #102, Los Angeles, CA 90066-3928; 310/442-2255 ; email, meby@ucla.edu.
CARMELLA VASSOR (1999 Fellow)
Carmella Vassor, Philadelphia, PA, was awarded $37,167 over one year to cover all production costs for the making of the documentary Standing at the Edge, We Dance. This hour-long video documents and explores The Philadelphia Dance Company (Philadanco) and founder Joan Myers Brown's celebration of their 30th anniversary season. Three styles of documentation are featured: cinema verite to capture the candid inner workings of the company as it holds auditions and integrates new company members; interviews with company members and the season's highlighted choreographers (Walter Nicks, Milton Myers, Ronald K. Brown, David Brown, and Harold Pierson), and a three-camera shoot of Philadanco's performances at the Annenberg Theatre in Philadelphia in May 2000. UCLA Fellows Marlene Millar and Philip Szporer collaborated on this project. Contact: Carmella Vassor, Wild Child Productions, 1517 West LeHigh Avenue, Philadelphia, PA 19132; 215/413-0522; email, cvassor@yahoo.com.
WHITE OAK DANCE PROJECT (2000)
White Oak Dance Project (Baryshnikov Dance Foundation), Philadelphia, PA, was awarded $115,000 to create PastForward, a dance and media project that toured selected US cities and universities in the fall of 2000. A goal of the project was to present the works of important modern dance artists from the '50s, '60s, and '70s in their historical context while making these works current for today's audiences. New works by the same choreographers were presented alongside the reconstructions to see the span of the artists' work. Choreographers included Trisha Brown, Lucinda Childs, Simone Forti, David Gordon, Deborah Hay, Steve Paxton and Yvonne Rainer. Additional project elements included restoration and preservation of material, a video documentary of the reconstructions, a lobby/gallery multimedia exhibit, website, lectures and publications, each designed to further enhance audiences' understanding of the artists involved. Contact: Christina Sterner, Managing Director, White Oak Dance Project, 1830 Rittenhouse Square, Philadelphia, PA 19103; 215/731-0722; fax, 215/731-0716; email, hhoang@gilman.com.
ANDY ABRAHAMS WILSON (1999 Fellow)
Andy Abrahams Wilson, Sausalito, CA, was awarded $31,190 to cover production costs for Anna Halprin Dances: Improvisations in Nature, an hour-long video showing the pioneering dance work of Anna Halprin at 80 years old. Anna Halprin Dances is at once an art film of dance performance, a documentary about a unique figure in dance heritage, an archival record, and, most of all, an opportunity to experience, through dance, the connection to one's inner life and outer world. An embodiment and culmination of her work training other dancers, Halprin's recent movement explorations at the ocean and in the forest are powerful reminders of our belonging to nature, of our strengths and fragility, and of the very real story of an aging woman pondering the next threshold. The video will be released in 2002. Contact: Andy Abrahams Wilson, Open Eye Pictures, 241 Woodward Avenue, Sausalito, CA 94965; 415/332-3266; fax, 415/332-3256; email, andy@openeyepictures.com.
NOTE: To report broken links or out-of-date contact information, please contact Angela Ramacci at aramacci@danceusa.org.
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