Dance Resources

The Jerome Robbins Dance Division of The New York Public Library is the largest and most comprehensive archive in the world devoted to the documentation of dance. Chronicling the art of dance in all its manifestations—ballet, ethnic, modern, social, and folk—the division is much more than a library in the usual sense of the word.

A collection of over two hundred social dance manuals at the Library of Congress. Along with dance instruction manuals, this online presentation also includes a significant number of antidance manuals, histories, treatises on etiquette, and items from other conceptual categories. Many of the manuals also provide historical information on theatrical dance. All illuminate the manner in which people have joyfully expressed themselves as they dance for and with one another.

The collection preserves culturally significant recordings that document global and U.S. dance traditions, creative work by outstanding choreographers and performers, and performances that helped to advance the art form.

The Project is a distinct collection of interviews that have been initiated and recorded by the New York Public Library in an effort to add to the existing primary source material available to researchers in dance.

Discover the rich history of Jacob’s Pillow through an extensive online collection of photographs and festival programs. Search our entire collection of moving images, books, correspondence and other materials to learn more about past performances and artists, including Ted Shawn, Ted Shawn's Men Dancers, and the Denishawn Company.

A collection to preserve the recorded and physical works of Merce Cunningham and the Merce Cunningham Dance Company.

The Pioneers of Chinese Dance Digital Archive is a digital photograph collection designed to make the history of twentieth-century Chinese dance accessible to international researchers. The project was started at the University of Michigan Asia Library in 2014, with support from the Center for World Performance Studies, the Institute for Research on Women and Gender, and the Lieberthal-Rogel Center for Chinese Studies. It is part of a larger initiative to make the University of Michigan the premier institution for research on Chinese dance in North America.