- Additional Authors
- Description
- 27 linear feet (58 boxes)
- Genre/Form
- Correspondence.
- Photographs.
- Posters.
- Biography (note)
- American avant-garde dancer and choreographer, Laura Foreman (ca. 1937-2001) served a long tenure as the director of dance at the New School for Social Research from the late 1960s until the time of her death.
- Indexes/Finding Aids (note)
- Collection guide available in repository and on internet.
- Call Number
- (S) *MGZMD 162
- Author
Foreman, Laura, 1936-2001.
- Title
Laura Foreman papers, 1957-1999.
- Summary
The Laura Foreman papers span the years 1957-1999 and consist of correspondence, teaching notes, syllabi, workshop material, grant applications, choreographed dances with notes (about costumes, sound, and lighting). The collection is important in its documentation of various developments in the New York dance scene of the 1960s and 1970s, including the formation of the Laura Foreman Dance Company and the Composers and Choreographers Theatre, as well as the activities of the dance department at the New School. Also included is a small amount of material related to the work of Foreman's husband, the composer John Watts. The collection contains mostly professional material. There is extremely limited personal material, consisting mainly of correspondence and photographs.
- Biography
American avant-garde dancer and choreographer, Laura Foreman (ca. 1937-2001) served a long tenure as the director of dance at the New School for Social Research from the late 1960s until the time of her death. Foreman came to New York City in the mid-1960s, having received a degree in dance from the University of Wisconsin, Madison and having toured with the Tamiris-Nagrin Dance Company. In 1963, Foreman married the composer John Watts, who also would join the faculty of the New School. Frustrated by the lack of funding opportunities for presenters of new dance and music in New York, the two formed the Composers and Choreographers Theatre (CCT) in 1964. This non-profit organization helped to sponsor performances and to develop training and educational programs. Foreman directed the Choreographers Theatre and Watts served as the director of the Composers Theater. Choreographers Theatre became affiliated with the New School in 1969, establishing an autonomous dance department within the university that produced a general dance curriculum, as well as a professional certificate program. Foreman's ChoreoConcerts series gave exposure to the work of a wide range of composers and choreographers, many of whom explored the uses of electronics in music or incorporated a variety of media into their performances. Under the aegis of Choreographers Theatre, Foreman also presented her own work with the Laura Foreman Dance Company. The group performed regularly into the mid-1970s at such venues as the Judson Memorial Church, the Cubiculo, and the American Theatre Lab. One of Foreman's best-known pieces was Wallwork (1981), a conceptual event that attracted a great deal of publicity. After Watts' death in 1982, Foreman concentrated on writing and visual art. She began exhibiting sculpture in the 1980s, receiving attention for a 1990 show, Birdhouse as Metaphor. Foreman's short stories were collected into a book, Close Encounters (1997).
- Indexes
Collection guide available in repository and on internet.
- Connect to:
- Occupation
Choreographers.
Dancers.
Dance teachers.
- Added Author
Watts, John, 1930-1982.
Choreographers Theatre.
Laura Foreman Dance Company.
New School for Social Research (New York, N.Y.)
- Research Call Number
(S) *MGZMD 162