Collection Summary
Dance Notation Collection
1893-1981
(bulk 1947-1981)
1893-1981
1947-1981
ML31.D35
42 items
6 containers
4.25 linear feet
5 microfilm reels
English
Collection material in English.
Music Division, Library of Congress
Washington, D.C.
The Dance Notation Collection consists
of scenarios, scores in codified dance notation, and descriptions of dance dating
from 1893 to 1981, many of which originated from copyright deposits submitted to the
U.S. Copyright Office to register rights for choreography. Most of these scores are
recorded in Labanotation, the system of dance notation that Rudolf von Laban
(1879–1958) developed. George Balanchine, Doris Humphrey, Kurt Jooss, Léonide
Massine, and Antony Tudor are among the distinguished choreographers whose works are
represented in this collection.
Provenance
This collection of dance notation, descriptive scenarios of dance and movement, and
dance scores originated from copyright deposits submitted to the U.S. Copyright
Office to register rights for choreography. The collection remains open for future
additions through the U.S. Copyright Office and by direct submission from
choreographers or dance notators.
Accruals
Additional copyright deposits, dance scores notated using codified symbols, and other
dance notation items given to the Music Division will be added to this
collection.
Processing History
Elizabeth Aldrich inventoried and processed the Dance Notation Collection in 2012. In
2020, Libby Smigel reassessed, processed, and rehoused the collection, and Rachel
McNellis coded the finding aid for online access. The finding aid will be updated to
accommodate additional dance notation documents and scores that the Music Division
obtains.
Other Repositories
Outside repositories containing significant collections of dance notation include the
Dance Notation Bureau, which houses the largest collection of dance scores written
in Labanotation, as well as the Dance Notation Bureau Collection at Ohio State
University and Benesh International at the Royal Academy of Dance in London.
Related Material
The Music Division holds a wide range of dance-related collections with notated dance
scores. Notably, the [American Dance Theatre
Archive] houses scores notated in Benesh dance notation. The [Julia Vincent Cross
Papers] contains a bound choreography notebook with detailed hand-written
descriptions of 29 dances attributed to Alexandre Volinine, Isadora Duncan, Mikhail
Mordkin, and others, as well as Cross's own choreography. The [Erick Hawkins and
Lucia Dlugoszewski Papers] includes scores exhibiting a unique
choreographic notation devised by Hawkins, as well as music scores that are
annotated with choreographic notes and cues. The Library of Congress as a whole has
an extensive collection of books devoted to dance notation and dance scores that
record works of many genres.
Copyright Status
Materials from the Dance Notation Collection are governed by the Copyright Law of the
United States (Title 17, U.S.C.) and other applicable international copyright
laws.
Access and Restrictions
The Dance Notation Collection is open to research. Researchers are advised to contact
the Music Division prior to visiting in order to determine whether the desired
materials will be available at that time.
Certain restrictions to use or copying of materials may apply.
Microfilm
Several works by George Balanchine, Hanya Holm, and Doris Humphrey, deposited between
1953 and 1963, are available on five reels of microfilm that are shelved as
Microfilm 2021/02436 (Mus). These materials are described in the finding aid and may be requested
using the call number and reel number listed with the item.
To promote preservation of the originals, researchers are required to consult
the microfilm edition.
Preferred Citation
Researchers wishing to cite this collection should include the following information:
[item, date, container number], Dance Notation Collection, Music Division, Library
of Congress, Washington, D.C.
Scope and Content Note
The Dance Notation Collection consists of various documents used to record dance
movements, sequences of dance steps, and stage arrangements. Items include diagrams,
choreographic notes and dance notation, microfilm, descriptive scenarios and
themes, and dance scores recorded in formal notation systems such as Labanotation.
This collection began as a set of copyright registrations submitted to the U.S.
Copyright Office. The modern dance, ballet, cultural dance, and musical theatre
works among the 28 original submissions date between 1893 and 1981. They represent
artistic works of major twentieth-century choreographers such as George Balanchine,
Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey, Kurt Jooss, Sophie Maslow, Léonide Massine, Agnes De
Mille, and Antony Tudor. Two items in the collection were registered for educational
purposes. Ray Cook’s
Theme and Variations
was intended as an introduction to Labanotation and the reconstruction of
dance scores, and Ida C. Craddock's
Danse du ventre
described Egyptian belly dance as having instructional value for
nineteenth-century marriage.
Note that the date included with the title of the choreographic work is that of the
completed score, as most dance notation is completed after the premiere of the
dance, sometimes long afterward and with different casts. The copyright number
assigned by the U.S. Copyright Office may have another date, which corresponds to
the date when the copyright registration number was recorded.
Arrangement
The collection is organized in two series:
-
[Labanotation,
1947-1981](DS01)
-
[Other Dance Notation,
1893](DS02)
Selected Search Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the LC Catalog. They are grouped by name of person or organization, by subject or location, and by occupation and listed alphabetically.
People
Asselbourg, Jocelyne.
Balanchine, George. Allegro brillante.
Balanchine, George. Symphony in C.
Cook, Ray, 1934-
Craddock, Ida C.
De Mille, Agnes.
Dunkley, K. Wright.
Grelinger, Els, 1923-2015.
Guest, Ann Hutchinson.
Holden, Richard, 1927-2015.
Holm, Hanya, 1893-1992.
Humphrey, Doris, 1895-1958.
Hynninen, Airi
Jooss, Kurt, 1901-1979.
Laban, Rudolf von, 1879-1958.
Marriett, Jane.
Massine, Leonide, 1896-1979.
Topaz, Muriel.
Weber, Lynne.
Weetering, Conrad van de.
Wile, Charlotte.
Zide, Rochelle.
Organizations
Dance Notation Bureau (New York, N.Y.)
Subjects
Ballet.
Choreography.
Dance notation.
Labanotation.
Modern dance.
Titles
Ball in old Vienna (Choreographic work : Jooss)
Beau Danube (Choreographic work : Massine)
Big city (Choreographic work : Jooss)
Bourrée fantasque (Choreographic work : Balanchine)
Cereus (Choreographic work : Tudor)
Continuo (Choreographic work : Tudor)
Dance notation copyright deposits
Day on earth (Choreographic work : Humphrey)
Fall River legend (Choreographic work : De Mille)
Folksay (Choreographic work : Maslow)
Gaîté parisienne (Choreographic work : Massine)
Green table (Choreographic work : Jooss)
Jardin aux lilas (Choreographic work : Tudor)
Leaves are fading (Choreographic work : Tudor)
My fair lady (Choreographic work : Holm)
Night spell (Choreographic work : Humphrey)
Offenbach in the underworld (Choreographic work : Tudor)
Parade (Choreographic work : Massine)
Pavane pour une infante défunte (Choreographic work : Jooss)
Pulcinella (Choreographic work : Massine)
Ritmo jondo (Choreographic work : Humphrey)
Soirée musicale (Choreographic work : Tudor)
Symphonie concertante (Choreographic work : Balanchine)
With my red fires (Choreographic work : Humphrey)
Catalog Record: [https://lccn.loc.gov/2006560673]
Container List
1- 6
1-5
Labanotation, 1947-1981
1947-1981
The Labanotation series consists of dance scores written in Labanotation.
Hungarian-born dancer and choreographer Rudolf von Laban (1879–1958) created
the system and introduced it in Kinetographie
Laban, which he published in 1928. Labanotation uses symbols
written on a vertical staff to represent different aspects of a specific
movement: body part, direction, level, duration, and physical and emotional
dynamics. The Dance Notation Bureau in New York City, which Eve Gentry and
Ann Hutchinson Guest founded in 1940, holds the largest collection of dance
scores written in Labanotation.
The items in this series document the choreographed works of George
Balanchine, Ray Cook, Hanya Holm, Doris Humphrey, Kurt Jooss, Sophie Maslow,
Léonide Massine, and Antony Tudor. The scores were written by professional
dance notators, including Ray Cook, Els Grelinger, Airi Hynninen, Ann
Hutchinson Guest, Jane Marriett, and Muriel Topaz, among others. Hanya
Holm’s dances from the hit Broadway musical My Fair
Lady (1956), are especially noteworthy, along with Agnes de
Mille’s Fall River Legend, (1975), which she
choreographed for renowned Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. Unlike the other
works in the series, Ray Cook’s Theme and
Variations (1981) was a pedagogical work intended as an
introduction to Labanotation.
A microfilm edition of select works are available on five reels that are shelved as Microfilm 2021/02436 (Mus). To promote preservation of the originals, researchers
are required to consult the microfilm edition.
Arranged alphabetically by choreographer’s last name and therein by title of
the dance work.
Balanchine, George
1/1
Allegro Brilliante, 1977
1977
Notator: Richard Holden
Copyright number and date: Du 106982; 1977
December 30
1/2
2
Bourrée Fantasque, 1949?
1949?
Synopsis of thematic content, 1
page
Notator: Ann Hutchinson Guest with Els
Grelinger
Copyright number and date: Du 35212;
1953
Also available as Microfilm 2021/02436 (Mus). Made from NYPL copy
1/3
3
Symphonie Concertante, 1947?
1947?
Synopsis of thematic content, 1
page
Notator: Ann Hutchinson with Els
Grelinger
Copyright number and date: Du 35213;
1953
Also available as Microfilm 2021/02436 (Mus). Made from NYPL copy
1/4
4
Symphony in C, 1948
1948
Synopsis of thematic content, 1
page
Notator: Ann Hutchinson with Els
Grelinger
Copyright number and date: Du 35214;
1953
Also available as Microfilm 2021/02436 (Mus). Made from NYPL copy
Cook, Ray
1/5
Theme and Variations, 1981
1981
Two printed copies
Notator: Ray Cook
Copyright number and date: PA 130-652;
1981 November 2
De Mille, Agnes
1/6-8
Fall River Legend, 1975
1975
Notator: Jane Marriett
Copyright number and date: Du 106977; 1977
December 30
5/1-2
Rodeo, 1976
1976
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
Notator: Jane Marriett
Copyright number and date: Du 106986; 1977
December 30
Holm, Hanya
1/9
1
My
Fair Lady dances, 1956?
1956?
Description, 2 pages
Notator: Els Grelinger
Copyright number and date: Du 45865; 1957
October 16
Also available as Microfilm 2021/02436 (Mus)
Humphrey, Doris
5
Day on Earth, 1963
1963
Notator: Muriel Topaz
Copyright number and date: Du 58898; 1963
November 12
Available as Microfilm 2021/02436 (Mus)
1/10
Night Spell, 1974
1974
Notator: Jane Marriett
Copyright number and date: Du 106985; 1977
December 30
1/11
Ritmo Jondo, 1976
1976
Notator: Ray Cook
Copyright number and date: Du 106984; 1977
December 30
2/1-2
With My Red Fires, 1965
1965
Notator: Muriel Topaz
Copyright number and date: DP 9443; 1975
May 12
Jooss, Kurt
2/3
A
Ball in Old Vienna, 1976
1976
Notator: Jane Marriett
Copyright number and date: Du 106983; 1977
December 30
6/1
The Big City, 1974
1974
Notator: Airi Hynninen
Copyright number and date: Du 106980; 1977
December 30
2/4
The Green Table, 1977
1977
Notator: Muriel Topaz, Charlotte
Wile
Copyright number and date: Du 106969; 1977
December 30
2/5
Pavane on the Death of an Infanta, 1976
1976
Notator: Charlotte Wile
Copyright number and date: Du 106971; 1977
December 30
Maslow, Sophie
2/6-7
Folksay, 1972
1972
Notator: K. Wright Dunkley
Copyright number and date: Du 106978; 1977
December 30
Massine, Léonide
3/1-2
Le
Beau Danube, 1971
1971
Notator: Ann Hutchinson Guest, assisted by
Jocelyne Asselbourg and Conrad van der Wetering
Copyright number and date: Du 106967; 1977
December 30
3/3
Gaité Parisiene, 1974
1974
Notator: Airi Hynninen
Copyright number and date: Du 106979; 1977
December 30
3/4
Parade, 1974
1974
Notator: Jocelyne Asselbourg
Copyright number and date: Du 106974; 1977
December 30
3/5-6
Pulcinella, 1974
1974
Notator: Lynne Weber
Copyright number and date: Du 106972; 1977
December 30
Tudor, Antony
4/1
Cereus, 1972
1972
Notator: Muriel Topaz
Copyright number and date: Du 106973; 1977
December 30
4/2
Continuo, 1976
1976
Notator: Muriel Topaz
Copyright number and date: Du 106879; 1977
December 30
4/3-4
Jardin aux Lilas, 1967
1967
Notator: Muriel Topaz
Copyright number and date: Du 106968; 1977
December 30
4/5
The Leaves Are Fading, 1975
1975
Notator: Airi Hynninen
Copyright number and date: Du 106976; 1977
December 30
4/6-7
Offenbach in the Underworld, 1975
1975
Notator: Lynne Weber
Copyright number and date: Du 106975; 1977
December 30
4/8
Soirée Musicale, 1975
1975
Notator: Ann Hutchinson, 1962; revised by
Airi Hynninen, Muriel Topaz and Rochelle Zide, 1975
Copyright number and date: Du 106981; 1977
December 30
5
Other Dance Notation, 1893
1893
The Other Dance Notation series includes a 10-page typed manuscript with
hand-written corrections of Ida Craddock’s Danse du ventre [Dance of
the Abdomen] (1893). Describing the movement, Craddock explains how Egyptian
belly dancing has instructional value for nineteenth-century marriage.
Arranged alphabetically by author and and therein by title of work.
Craddock, Ida C.
5/3
Danse du ventre
[Dance of the Abdomen] as performed in the Cairo Street Theatre,
Midway Plaisance, Chicago, 1893
1893
Typed manuscript with corrections, ten
pages
Copyright date: 1893 October 27
Note: No
Copyright Office registration number