Preserving Dance: A Community-based Approach to Archiving
In July 2018, Dance/USA launched its first Fellowships in Dance Archiving and Preservation for master's degree students in library and information sciences. Through
a pilot program generously funded by The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Dance/USA provided two 12-week Fellowship for students enabling them to gain
hands-on experience working with dance legacy collections, be mentored by
experienced dance archivists, and work directly with a dance company to archive
their materials. The first Archiving Fellows were based in Los Angeles and Chicago. Read about the Fellows here.
The goal of this program is to develop an engaged, passionate, and well-trained next generation of archivists in the dance field and to advance models for affordable archiving assistance to regional dance communities. The
program also has a specific focus on increasing diversity in the archives field and
developing equitable and inclusive models for preserving the full array of voices,
practices, and identities within dance communities.
This pilot program builds on the Fellowships in Archiving and Preservation offered by Dance Heritage Coalition (DHC), between 2001 and 2014. Read about DHC Fellows and their projects here.
Read the full press release about the Fellowship program here.
To learn more about the program, contact Tevin Giddens, Project Coordinator, at tgiddens@danceusa.org.
