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Category: Guest bloggers

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The Music Division Wishes You a Happy New Year!

Posted by: Pat Padua

The following is a guest post by retired cataloger Sharon McKinley Looking for an appropriate New Year’s greeting, I found this song featuring a distinguished-looking gentleman with great facial hair on the cover. The title seems pretty tame, but the subtitle, Dedicated to my customers… is pure click-bait- -19th century style. Pleasant and easy to sing, it’s …

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

American Ballet Theatre on the Road: Touring Rodeo

Posted by: Libby Smigel

The following is a guest post from Sophie Benn, one of the Music Division’s Fellows from Case Western Reserve University this past summer. Dance Archivist Libby Smigel introduces her. I’m beginning to believe that every dance historian could benefit from working alongside a dance-loving musicologist. This past summer graduate student Sophie Benn fit that role …

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Pearl Lang: A Choreographer Between Two Worlds

Posted by: Libby Smigel

The following is a guest post from Chava Lansky, one of the Music Division’s Fellows from this past summer. Dance Archivist Libby Smigel introduces her. Meet Chava Lansky, a recent graduate of Barnard College where she wrote a senior thesis on dance autobiographies. With her strong interest in dance history and research on Martha Graham’s …

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

Not at All Quiet on the Western Front: The Great War Initiation of a Hollywood Veteran

Posted by: Cait Miller

Zachary Maiorana interned in the European Division this summer updating lists of e-resources that are especially valuable for European studies.  He alternated with interning at the Smithsonian, as well.  Zach graduated in May from Ohio State University with a B.A. in an Honors program which included English and Linguistics and minors in History and German. …

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

A Musical Artifact Rediscovered for Nagrin and Starer’s Indeterminate Figure

Posted by: Cait Miller

Last week we featured a guest post from summer Fellow Rachel McNellis who shared discoveries from her work with the Daniel Nagrin Collection. This week she links an unidentified score titled “Vanity” to one of Nagrin’s seminal dance works, Indeterminate Figure.   Daniel Nagrin, a renowned modern dancer with a humanist worldview, included this brief …

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Severed Limbs and Other Findings in the Daniel Nagrin Collection

Posted by: Libby Smigel

The following is a guest post from Rachel McNellis, one of the Music Division’s summer Fellows. Dance Curator Libby Smigel introduces her. I have been delighted to have two Case Western Reserve University Fellows this summer, and am pleased to have Rachel McNellis share her experience working with the legacy materials of choreographer Daniel Nagrin. …

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

Sheet Music Spotlight: Beat The Heat Edition

Posted by: Pat Padua

The following is a guest post by retired cataloger Sharon McKinley. It’s midsummer here in sweltering Washington, DC, and overheated hearts turn to the music of love. It won’t cool anything down, but going for a nice swim ought to do the trick. “They Had to Swim Back to the Shore,” by Joe McCarthy and …

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Breathing Life into the Classics: How Suffrage Plays and Tennessee Williams Complicate 20th-Century Theater

Posted by: Cait Miller

Rachel Tils is one of 37 college students who spent the last two months working at the Library as part of the 2017 Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program. She is a rising junior at Pomona College studying history and theater.   The American/Century Play Company Collection held by the Music Division at the Library of Congress …

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

Washington Nationals Western Tour

Posted by: Cait Miller

The following is a guest post written by Katherine Walden, one of 37 college students who spent the last two months working at the Library as part of the 2017 Junior Fellows Summer Intern Program. Walden is a PhD Candidate in American Studies and Sport Studies at the University of Iowa, where she is also …