Research Catalog

Title

International Encyclopedia of Dance records, 1982-1997, undated.

Supplementary Content

Finding Aid

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Aldrich, Elizabeth, 1947-
• Cohen, Selma Jeanne, 1920-2005.
• Oxford University Press.

Description

63.5 linear feet (127 boxes)

Summary

The International Encyclopedia of Dance records document the development of the International Encyclopedia of Dance, a grant funded project of the Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc.

Uniform Title

International encyclopedia of dance.

Subjects

• Memos
• Reports
• Oxford University Press
• Correspondence
• Choreographers > 20th century
• International encyclopedia of dance
• Ballet > Encyclopedias > 20th century
• Articles
• Dance > Encyclopedias > 20th century
• Modern dance
• Encyclopedias and dictionaries > Publishing
• Aldrich, Elizabeth, 1947-
• Cohen, Selma Jeanne, 1920-2005
• Bibliographic databases
• Encyclopedists

Genre/Form

• Articles.
• Correspondence.
• Bibliographic databases.
• Memos.
• Reports.

Location of Other Archival Materials (note)

• Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

• Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Call Number

(S) *MGZMD 202

OCLC

244003536

Title

International Encyclopedia of Dance records, 1982-1997, undated.

Biography

The International Encyclopedia of Dance (IED) began as a project of the Dance Critics Association intended to address the need for a comprehensive scholarly encyclopedia for the field of dance. The first National Endowment of the Arts (NEH) grant in support of the encyclopedia was awarded to the Dance Perspectives Foundation, Inc. in 1976 to help fund a planning conference of leading dance scholars. The scholars in attendance at this meeting would help set up the structure and content of the proposed encyclopedia. The IED was planned to be a multivolume work with an international scope covering all forms of dance in all countries of the world. After being awarded a second grant, the Dance Perspectives Foundation undertook full sponsorship of the IED in 1977 and formed an editorial board that could help realize the publication. As the project grew, the editorial board found it necessary to expand the number of commissioned articles to adequately meet its objective of worldwide coverage. Due to difficulties of communication between the editorial board and international consultants, the encyclopedia's publication date was delayed over the course of the 1980s. The project passed from Charles Scribner's Sons to Macmillan Publishing and was delayed by publication cost issues, and the lack of editorial knowledge on behalf of the publishers' copy editors. Since much of the material written for the IED was original, it proved difficult for the publishers to fact check the articles, some of which were not written in English. Parts of the IED manuscript and editorial correspondence were lost during the physical transition from Scribner's to Macmillan. The University of California Press agreed to take on the project in 1988, a relationship that would last until 1993 when budget cuts in the California university system forced the publisher to abandon the project. Ultimately, the IED achieved realization when the Oxford University Press agreed to edit, restore and expand the manuscript in 1994. Manuscripts were retyped; dance scholars were allowed to act as editorial consultants, and to develop a rigorous style scheme and format. Two thousand illustrations and three hundred new articles were commissioned. The IED was published as a six volume large format set in 1998.

Location of Other Archival Materials

See also the Selma Jeanne Cohen International Encyclopedia of Dance records. (S) *MGZMD 151in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Indexes

Collection guide available in repository and on internet.

Connect to:

Request Access to Special Collections (Dance Division) material

Finding Aid

Occupation

Encyclopedists

Added Author

Aldrich, Elizabeth, 1947-

Cohen, Selma Jeanne, 1920-2005.

Oxford University Press.

Added Title

International encyclopedia of dance.

Research Call Number

(S) *MGZMD 202