The Dance
Notation Bureau Library maintains the world's most substantial collection
of original Labanotated dance scores. Along with the DNB-produced scores,
the Library collects and houses other materials needed to stage the
dances, including music scores, audiotapes, videotapes, production information,
historical information, and anything else pertinent to a dance. It is
devoted to housing and preserving these materials and to making them
as accessible as possible for the purposes of continued performance,
classroom use, and scholarly research.
At the heart of
the Library is a living archive of Labanotation scores representing
both theatrical and non-theatrical dance forms. In addition to scores
of ballet, modern, and jazz works which were created for presentation
in a theatrical setting, the Library maintains a collection of folk,
historical, and social dances from around the world. These include a
selection of reconstructed Renaissance and Baroque dances. Also on file
are notated technical studies of dance forms and movement in general;
materials and readings for use in teaching Labanotation; and scores
from the Albrecht Knust Collection.
The DNB Library opens from Monday through Friday, 10 am to 6 pm. Appointment
by phone at (212) 564-0985 or by email at library@dancenotation.org
strongly recommend.
Our Archives of Notated Theatrical
Dances
From Petipa's Sleeping Beauty to Bill T. Jones' Fever Swamp,
the rich tapestry of theatrical dance over the past century is represented
in the DNB Library and maintained for present and future generations to
stage and study. The archives presently houses over 600 original Labanotation
scores of theatrical dances. When a score is accessioned, regardless of
its origin, the DNB records all the information about its provenance and
production in order to properly catalog the work. In this way, every pertinent
detail of a particular score is recorded to provide the necessary information
for dance stagers and scholars. The manuscript is then copied onto acid-free
permanent paper which serves as a master copy of the score. All copies
for use by Library patrons are made from the master, and the original
score is preserved in an archival box.
A notated work is protected through copyright status, so that use of a
score is always contingent upon the wishes of the choreographer or his/her
estate. Permission must be sought by the DNB for any patron wishing to
use a notated score for study or staging. Educational use of scores is
often granted freely, however. Those patrons who seek to stage a work
for public performance must secure permission through the Dance Notation
Bureau's Director of Stagings.
When a score is put in the DNB Library, it is supplemented by materials
related to the work. Materials acquired vary with each work but usually
include a marked music score, audiocassettes and videotapes; production
information such as costume swatches and designs, lighting plots and set
designs; as well as newspaper reviews, programs and photographs. These
items are usually acquired for the DNB by the staff notator working on
the score. Circulation of these materials is again dependent on the wishes
of the choreograper, composer, and other copyright owners.
Periodically, either with the cooperation of the New York Public Library
of the Performing Arts or through grants awarded to the DNB, the dance
scores are copied onto an even more durable medium than paper: microfilm.
To date, the majority of the DNB's Labanotation scores, often with accompanying
marked music scores, have been microfilmed. One copy of the film is housed
at the Dance Collection at Lincoln Center where modern microfilm readers
may be used for viewing the scores. A second copy of the microfilmed scores
is maintained outside of New York by Dance Notation Bureau as part of
its disaster preparedness plan. The original negative is housed in the
vault of the New York Public Library.
In honor of the late
Maria Grandy and her years of commitment to the DNB, the circulating
collection has been named The Maria Grandy Circulating Collection,
thus ensuring that her spirit will travel with every work that goes
out for study or remounting. What better memorial to Maria Grandy
than this, which reflects her commitment to staging repertory from
score and using notation in the training of dancers and her hope that
perhaps others may become as attracted to notation as she was? We
believe this is where she would want to be remembered.
Audiovisual
Collection
The Dance Notation
Bureau also maintains an archive of audiovisual materials dating from
1955. Original videotapes in various formats including EIAJ, U-matic,
Betacam, 3/4" professional, and VHS. The collection contains
some outdated or infrequently used formats such as reel-to-reel tapes
of music for notated theatrical dances, oral history interviews, Labanotation
lectures, etc.; a selection of LP phonograph records; 16mm film and
reel-to-reel video tapes of dance performances. An ongoing project
of the DNB is to reformat old material before the film base disintegrates
and the information recorded becomes impossible to save.
The Richard Holden Collection of Benesh Movement Notation
Although the DNB promotes
the Labanotation system, files are maintained on other forms of notation
as well. The Richard Holden Collection contains scores of theatrical
dance works recorded in Benesh Movement Notation between 1966 and1980
by Richard Holden. The Benesh method is a system of movement notation
created by Rudolf and Joan Benesh. Benesh notation maintained by the
DNB includes scores by Ashton, Bournonville, Fokine, Holden, and Petipa.
Use of this collection is restricted. Permission must be sought from
the donor, Richard Holden.
Eshkol-Wachmann Movement Notation Collection
The DNB Library has
a limited collection of published material on the dances of Noa Eshkol,
recorded in Eshkol-Wachmann Movement Notation from 1954-1978. Eshkol-Wachmann
Movement Notation was developed between 1951 and 1956 by Noa Eshkol
and Abraham Wachmann in Israel.
Photograph Archives
The Photograph Archives
includes negatives and prints of photographs used in publications
which have been donated over the years by choreographers, dance companies,
friends of the DNB and DNB staff. Subject matter pertains to the choreographers
and works represented in the archive as well as to the history of
the DNB. Photographs do not circulate, but stagers and researchers
visiting the DNB are welcome to look at them. With permission of the
copyright holders, some photographs can be reproduced for circulation.
Publications Archives
The Library maintains
a collection of books, periodicals, scores, and instruction manuals
published by the Dance Notation Bureau between 1952 and the present.
Among these is Dance Notation Journal, which was published
from 1983 to 1989 and dealt with issues in Labanotation. (To order
back issues of Dance Notation Journal, visit our Notation
Publications page.)
ICKL Files
The International
Council of Kinetography Laban (ICKL) was founded in 1959, the year
after Rudolf Laban's death. ICKL's purpose is to bring together specialists
in Labanotation from around the world to guide the unified development
of the Laban system, which is also known in some places as Kinetography
Laban. Labanotation has since been modified and built on the consensus
of the notators who come together every two years at the ICKL meetings.
ICKL sets usage standards; promotes research in order to increase
efficiency of the system; and disseminates information about the system.
ICKL holds biennial conferences and publishes technical papers on
the Laban system. Copies of these papers and proceedings are filed
at the Dance Notation Bureau.
The Future of Our Library
In the very near future, the Dance Notation Bureau Library catalog will
be accessible online. All of the DNB's holdings will be cataloged with
more information than was previously available in the Notated
Theatrical Dances publication.
With the advent of new computer technology, the recording of dance through
Labanotation has evolved from pencil and paper to LabanWriter software.
Recently, some notators have moved the process even further by experimenting
with CD-ROMs, combining notation with the music and supplementary information
all on one little disk. It may not be long before the issue of lack of
space to house vast amounts of paper may be mitigated by this new technology,
and the DNB Library will evolve into a more streamlined repository responsive
to the needs of the 21st century dance community.
For information about other performing arts libraries, visit our Links
page.
