Dance Scrapbooks, 1951/52-1990/91

Martha Hill, the founder and first director of the Dance Division, had an eclectic, forward-thinking vision for the curriculum, and she also maintained an archival sensibility. She ensured that the repertory was photographed and filmed for study and dance preservation purposes, and she compiled thirty-six Dance Division scrapbooks that were meticulously prepared from 1951 to 1991. Organized chronologically by academic year, the volumes contain a complete set of student programs, publicity material, news clippings, flyers, student and faculty lists, course schedules, catalogs, memoranda, faculty minutes, and photographs. Of particular significance are photographs in Dance Scrapbook #4 (1959/60): rehearsal shots of Doris Humphrey's Passacaglia and Fugue in C Minor (April 1960) and Antony Tudor’s A Choreographer Comments (premiered in April 1960) featuring alumni Pina Bausch and Koert Stuyf, as well as several candids of Bausch, Tudor, Hill, Mercedes Ellington, Donald McKayle, William Louther, Mabel Robinson, Dudley Williams, and administrative staff. Dance Scrapbook #1 (1951/52-1956/57) includes photographs of Hill, Louis Horst, Hazel Chung, Tudor's Brittania Triumphans (December 1953, with Rena Gluck, Bruce Carlisle, and Martha Schuh), and a Let's Take a Trip CBS telecast with José Limón hosted by Sonny Fox and child co-stars Ginger MacManus and Pud Flanagan (1957). Digitization of these scrapbooks was supported by the Leon Levy Foundation.