Dance: History and Performance
Dancers spend endless hours a day perfecting their craft, but you don’t need toil quite as hard for good dance information online. Delve into dance history with pictures, biographies and timelines. Get expert opinions and breaking dance news from arts newspapers and dance magazines. Or buy dance performance tickets and make your own judgments. Then, chat about what you’ve learned with others on dance news and forums.
Expand All Guide SectionsHistory of Dance
Below, you’ll find sources that offer a dance history overview or go into greater depth. Explore dance timelines, dancer biographies, and primary sources that provide information on ballet history, the history of modern dance and the history of African-American dance.
Dulcinea's Insight
- For more information about a specific dancer, enter his or her name into a search engine and see if the dancer has a personal homepage.
- Dance company Web sites often provide their own history as well as a bit of history pertaining to the type of dance they perform. Look for a list of dance companies at CyberDance.
Dulcinea's Picks
For an overview of dance history …
The New York Public Library
has an online archive of the history of dance. Visit the Jerome Robbins Dance Division’s list of major collections to get an idea of what’s available before you search the dance catalog. Don’t miss the digital gallery of performance photographs.
The National Museum of Dance
lets you explore its exhibits online. The museum’s collections cover a variety of dance forms; take a peek at them on the site, or plan a visit. Do note, however, that the museum (located in Saratoga Springs, New York) closes for the winter.
For ballet history …
American Ballet Theatre
has a library whose mission is to capture both the 65-year history of the theater and important elements of ballet in general. Explore terms in the Ballet Dictionary or investigate entire ballets with the Repertory Archive, which provides information about past performances. Browse the Archive using the convenient links at the top of the page to see the list by ballet, choreographer, or composer.
The Ballerina Gallery
commemorates dozens of the world’s best ballerinas with individual photo galleries and autobiographies. The Gallery was last updated in 2002, but it’s a good source for investigating the women who have made ballet history.
For the history of modern dance …
The University of Pittsburgh
hosts a faculty project called “The Early Moderns” that serves as an online tutorial on the history of modern dance. Read biographies of the dancers who originated and established the modern form and discover the events, politics and philosophies that influenced them.
Off Jazz Dance World
is the official site of the Off Jazz Dance Company, which is based in France. Find histories of jazz and modern dance, as well as video clips and terminology. Some of the history sections are in French, but many terms are accompanied by picture tutorials and videos.
For a history of African-American dance …
PBS
’s timeline, “Free To Dance” (created to accompany the documentary of the same name) tracks the history of African-American dance from 1619–2001. More information about “Free to Dance,” is available on the site, including biographies of prominent dance figures and essays about dance.
Who knew?
PBS
makes it possible to scope out some of dance’s greatest moments and performances right from your computer.
Dance News and Reviews
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Buying Dance Tickets
Dance is part of an ancient tradition, but you can purchase tickets to a public dance performance ... read more »
Dance Forums and Blogs
Dance is usually a silent art but the sites below provide all the missing dialogue. The following ... read more »
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