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Category: Dance

Reintroducing Bronislava Nijinska!

Posted by: Libby Smigel

The Bronlislava Nijinska Collection is now fully processed and available for study in the Music Division's Performing Arts Reading Room, Library of Congress. Archivist Morgen Stevens-Garmon, who headed the team that processed the collection, synopsizes Nijinska's career as a dancer and choreographer, and tells the story of the collection's arrival at the Library.

Library of Congress Announces Spring 2025 Concert Series

Posted by: Claudia Morales

Library of Congress Announces Spring 2025 Concert Series. Concerts from the Library of Congress continues to celebrate a century of landmark concerts in spring 2025, offering a rich and diverse kaleidoscope of classical music, jazz, pop, folk and dance events, with a major focus on American contemporary voices across genres.   

Excerpt of handwritten orchestra score for "Wuthering Heights" by Alfred Newman (1939).

New Finding Aids at the Music Division of the Library of Congress

Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres

Learn about six new collection finding aids that have been published by the Library's Music Division. These finding aids provide bibliographic access to the Irwin Bazelon Papers, Harry Chapin Collection, Ann Murphy Collection on the Rockettes and Radio City Music Hall, Alfred Newman Film Music Manuscripts, Park Avenue Synagogue Commissioning Project Correspondence and Hans Spialek Papers.

Rockettes tap dancer Ann Murphy posing arms outstretched onstage and in costume

High Kicks for Days: Celebrating the Rockettes with Photographs and Memorabilia

Posted by: Libby Smigel

Rockettes dancer Ann Murphy (born in Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1942) danced with the precision tap dance company from the 1960s through the 1970s. Now her photographs, programs, and other Radio City Music Hall memorabilia are available to the public in the Library of Congress Performing Arts Reading Room, thanks to Murphy's generous gift of her legacy materials.

Musicians in air force uniforms performing with a conductor. Pianist in a yellow top seated at Steinway piano in front of the orchestra.

Now Streaming: Rhapsody in Blue, Jeremy Denk and Jazz Interviews

Posted by: Nicholas A. Brown-Cáceres

The 2023-2024 season of Concerts from the Library of Congress came to a rousing conclusion on June 20 with a performance by New Orleans-based band Cha Wa. As final preparations are made for the 2024-2025 season announcement, the Music Division is pleased to share a multitude of concert and event videos that have been released …

Michio Itō raising arms in gesture in loose long-sleeved top and flowing pants stepping forward on left foot, in an outdoor setting, photograph by Arnold Genthe

Celebrating Choreographer Michio Itō

Posted by: Libby Smigel

Choreographer Michio Itō had a profound impact on the development of modern dance in the United States, with collaborations and friendships with Martha Graham, Lester Horton, and Ted Shawn, among many others. Selected images from a recent gift of materials documenting Itō’s career in the United States are shown here alongside other images available in the Library of Congress to highlight the Japanese-born artist’s legacy during Asian American and Pacific Islanders Heritage Month.

woman strikes a dance pose in cowboy hate and western wear

The Choreographer Who Gave Us “Ken-ergy”

Posted by: Heather Darnell

During last Sunday’s Oscars, many were quick to note the parallels between Ryan Gosling’s performance of “I’m Just Ken” and Marilyn Monroe’s “Diamonds are a Girl’s Best Friend” from the 1953 film “Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. ”The “Ken Dance” took many cues from pop culture and vintage Hollywood to play on gender stereotypes. However, there was …

Photograph of three members of the band Cha Wa

Concerts from the Library of Congress: Announcing the Winter/Spring 2024 Season

Posted by: David Plylar

It is a great pleasure to announce the winter/spring 2024 events of Concerts from the Library of Congress—we have prepared a broad array of concerts, conversations, lectures and films that we are excited to share with you. With 27 events and more to come, there is something for everyone. On February 12 we will begin …