putting the dance theatre of harlem archives back together

Adapting Traditional Processes to

Nontraditional Collections: Putting

the Dance Theatre of Harlem

Archives Back Together

An initiative of the Dance Heritage Coalition with funding support from

The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, Save America’s Treasures,

and the Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Imogen Smith, Project Manager,

Dance Heritage Coalition

Judy Tyrus, Archives Exhibition Curator,

Dance Theatre of Harlem

Kat Bell, Project Director and former

Archive/Preservation Technician,

Dance Heritage Coalition

Photograph by Joseph Rodman.

The Dance Heritage Coalition

An alliance of major dance

collections in the United States:

● American Dance Festival

● Arizona State University

● The Dance Notation Bureau

● Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival

● The Jerome Robbins Dance Division

of the NYPL

● Harvard Theatre Collection

● Library of Congress Dance

Collection

● Museum of Performance & Design

● Newberry Library

● Ohio State University

● UCLA

Hanya Holm in 1937. Photograph by Benedict

Frenkel. Courtesy of the Dance Division, New York

Public Library for the Performing Arts, Astor, Lenox,

and Tilden Foundations.

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DHC Mission

To document,

preserve, and create

access to the dance

legacy of the United

States.

Daniel Nagrin in his work Not Him But Me, 1965. Oleaga

Photography. Daniel Nagrin Collection, Music Division,

Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

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Dance Company Assessments:

Lessons Learned

● Dance companies save everything, are

overwhelmed by lack of space, time,

resources

● Dance company archives are working

collections

● Companies need ready access to their

archives for core mission activities

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Outcomes From 2011 Dance

Archives Project

● Scholarly assessments

● Inventories of their

archives

● Video preservation

and digitization

Scholar Thomas F. DeFrantz (L) and Judy

Tyrus look through the Marbeth Collection

in the DTH Library. Photograph by Kat Bell.

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The Dance Theatre of Harlem

Archive Lives and Breathes

School, Company, and the Dancing Through

Barriers® education program all utilize

archival materials

Photograph courtesy of Dance

Theatre of Harlem Archives.

Photograph by Marbeth.

Photograph courtesy of Dance

Theatre of Harlem Archives.

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Dance Theatre of Harlem Co-Founders

Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook

Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook.

Photograph by Marbeth.

Arthur Mitchell as a dancer with

New York City Ballet.

Photograph by Martha Swope.

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DTH’s Place in African-American History

Photograph by Sharon Perry.

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DTH Archives

(Top Left) The Company with Nelson

Mandela. Photograph courtesy of Dance

Theatre of Harlem Archives.

(Bottom Left) The main library area.

Photograph by Kat Bell.

The 152nd Street building. Photograph by Kat Bell.

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put some

pics here of

Judy

dancing?

Judy Tyrus, former

principal dancer,

began volunteering in

the archive in 2007

before joining the

staff as Archives

Exhibition Curator.

Judy Tyrus and Eddie J. Shellman in

Le Corsaire. Photograph courtesy

of Dance Theatre of Harlem Archives.

DTH Archivist

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Finding Treasures Amidst Chaos

Handwritten score by Karel Shook. Photograph by Kat Bell.

Original drawing for Footprints Dressed in Red

by Salvatore Ferragamo. Photograph courtesy

of Dance Theatre of Harlem Archives.

Lib-2 before. Photograph by Kat Bell.

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Dance Theatre of Harlem: 40 Years of Firsts

Installation image of exhibition at the California African American Museum.

Photograph by Gene Ogami.

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Dance Theatre of Harlem: 40 Years of Firsts

Installation image of exhibition at Texas Southern University.

Photograph by Earlie Hudnall Jr., courtesy of University Museum. 13

DTH Archive Project 2011 http://preservingdtharchives2011.wordpress.com/

Archive Room Before Photograph by Judy Tyrus.

Archive Room After Photograph by Judy Tyrus.

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What did the inventory need to look like?

Screenshot of DTH Audio Inventory. 15

How would we locate and number items?

Room designations in map form. Created by Kat Bell.

Previously numbered moving image

material (mixed formats). Photograph by Kat Bell.

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Why is it important to have Judy and Kat

work as a team?

Dougla Ginastera

Scheherazade

Caravanserai Flower Festival in Genzano

Who is that dancer?

What piece is that

costume from?

I hear three voices on the interview,

but I can’t tell who is who?

A content specialist has intimate knowledge of the organization

that is vital to identifying material, enhancing metadata, and

understanding the current records management system.

What year did the company tour China?

The date on this label is a little fuzzy…

What’s in this drawer?

Do we have to keep

this shovel?

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How can we improve the storage and accessibility of

items with limited resources and time?

Surrounded by

moving image

objects. Photographs by

Kat Bell.

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Setting Priorities / Take Time to Save Time

(Above) Smaller audiovisual formats before and after

relabeling. Photographs by Kat Bell.

(Right) Moving image material received priority housing on new

shelves in interior room (Lib-4). Photograph by Patsy Gay.

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You can’t inventory miscellaneous piles:

Before and After images of Lib-2 project,

thanks to help from Fellow Patsy Gay.

Photographs by Kat Bell.

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Adapting standards to what is

achievable improvement:

(Left) Fellow Patsy Gay and Judy Tyrus with weeded posters.

(Below) Creative storage solution for rolled posters.

Photographs by Kat Bell.

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Lessons Learned

• You have to start somewhere

• DTH alumni are great resources (and everyone’s

memory is different)

• Important to move beyond project into a program

with sustainable and continued work o Integrating the archive into the work of the organization (e.g.

education programs)

o Advocate for the archive among staff; support from staff will help

create stakeholders within organization on projects

o Consistently improving access

o Financial commitment

o Documentation to maintain consistency in work among staff,

interns, and volunteers

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Next Steps

(Above) Intern Sha’qeem Clarke works

with programs in the archive.

Photograph by Judy Tyrus.

• Tackling smaller projects: Score Inventory,

Program Inventory, mini-projects

• Nichole Arvin, DHC Fellow 2012

• Media in Motion

• Bloomberg Philanthropies Art + Culture Internships Program

• NEH Sustaining Cultural Heritage Award

(Right)

Warehouse in

New Jersey.

Photograph

by Kat Bell.

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Media In Motion

…is a course that provides students with an introduction to Dance

Theatre of Harlem’s history with integrating and initiating them into

the great legacy holdings of the archive.

Photographs by Judy Tyrus.

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Questions?

Imogen Smith, Project Manager, Dance Heritage

Coalition, ismith@danceheritage.org

Judy Tyrus, Archives Exhibition Curator, Dance Theatre

of Harlem, jtyrus@dancetheatreofharlem.org

Kat Bell, Project Director, Dance Heritage Coalition,

kbell@danceheritage.org

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