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Category: Dance

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Martha, Martha, Martha!

Posted by: Pat Padua

Selections from the Martha Graham Collection is a new web presentation now available in the Performing Arts Encyclopedia. Dancer, choreographer, and company director Martha Graham (1894-1991) is considered one of the pioneering founders of American modern dance.  In a career spanning over seven decades, Graham developed her own innovative technique and produced an impressive legacy …

Posted in: Dance, Digital Collections, Special Collections, Women in Dance

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Harriet Hoctor and Yo-Yo Ma

Posted by: Pat Padua

The rejuvenative force of spring (or is it hunkering down for the winter?) leads to many an autumn baby. This week In the Muse would like to celebrate the birthdays of two  alliteratively named figures whose work can be found in the Music Division’s diverse collections. Vaudeville, Broadway, and film dancer Harriet Hoctor was born September …

Posted in: Birthdays, Dance, Musicians, Special Collections, Women in Dance

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

A bit o’ Blarney from the Music Division

Posted by: Pat Padua

The  Music Division’s bonnie collections offer a variety of ways to celebrate this St. Patrick’s Day. Play an Irish bagpipe from the Dayton C. Miller Flute Collection. Follow along to the reels described in Rinnce na h-Éireann : a simplified work on the performance of the dances of Ireland, from An American Ballroom Companion: Dance Instruction Manuals. Develop …

Posted in: Dance, Musical Instruments, Sheet Music, Special Collections

Woman with dark hair, fancy dress and pearls with eyes closed and mouth slightly open, singing

Women’s History Month: Katherine Dunham

Posted by: Pat Padua

Katherine Dunham was an American dancer-choreographer who was best known for incorporating African American, Caribbean, African, and South American movement styles and themes into her ballets. The Katherine Dunham Collection at the Library of Congress consists of moving image materials that document the extraordinary journey of a woman who changed the face of American modern …

Posted in: Dance, Special Collections, Women in Dance