The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts > Exhibitions

America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100

From June 7, 2005 through August 20, 2005
Vincent Astor Gallery
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498 (directions)

America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures: The First 100 was developed by the Dance Heritage Coalition and has been seen at the San Francisco Performing Arts Library & Museum, Jacob's Pillow and the Jerome Lawrence & Robert E. Lee Theatre Research Institute, Ohio State University. Curated by Lynn Garafola and Norton Owen, the exhibition celebrates the dazzling richness of America's dance heritage, highlighting the collections of the Dance Heritage Coalition's major constituents and revealing the remarkable range of materials that document the most ephemeral of the arts.

In 2000 the Coalition launched a major initiative to identify 100 "Treasures" representing the richness and range of American dance. The result of this search, which involved a national nominating and selection process, was a list of influential movements, memorable institutions, and outstanding artists who have shaped American dance since the 1840s. These first 100 "Treasures" cut across boundaries of idiom and style; they embrace vernacular as well as theatrical forms, popular as well as concert styles, social and even ritual dance, artists who have carried on traditions and those who have challenged them.

Press Release