Martha Graham Dance Company Archival Material Lost

The New York Times reported today that “most” of the company’s sets and costumes had been submerged in over six feet water in the basement of Westbeth, which was flooded in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. The total extent of the damage and loss has yet to be assessed.

 

Attention Must Be Paid

Strategically timed to coincide with the previews of the latest revival of Death of a Salesman on Broadway, the Winter 2012 edition of Performance! is now available here.

This gala “theater issue” includes articles about the archives of Arthur Miller and the Roundabout Theatre Company,  as well as an interview with Jennifer Homans, author of Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet, and a personal perspective on the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra’s efforts to establish its own archives.

 

Oklahoma!

As recently reported, the Woody Guthrie Archives will be moving to a new purpose built facility in Tulsa, Oklahoma, to be financed by the George Kaiser Family Foundation.  The new center, a former warehouse, which is currently being renovated, is expected to open in 2013.  New York’s loss is Oklahoma’s gain.

 

New at NYPL

Today’s New York Times reported on the acquisition of “memorabilia” relating to Off Off Broadway venue, Caffe Cino, including the 1966 program for “Dames at Sea” pictured below:

 

Paul Taylor Dance Company Archives Open to the Public

Carl Van Vechten photograph of Paul Taylor in George Balanchine's 'Episodes'

The Paul Taylor Dance Company announced officially today that its archives are now available to the public. The collection includes Foundation records consisting of 95 cubic feet of archives backlog and over 60 cubic feet of personal papers and artifacts from Mr. Taylor’s former West Village home.

Finding aids to the collection and other information is available online at the PTDC site and also discoverable on ArchiveGrid. The preservation project was funded through a grant from the National Historic Publications and Records Commission.

Congratulations to all!  I look forward to digging around more on the site once my login is authenticated.

Image credit: Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division, LOT 12735, no. 1085 [P&P]

 

ECLAP

Just a quick announcement about an interesting meeting happening soon for those of you hanging about the EU: Performing Arts Digital Collections for the New Millennium.

 

Yet another Google Doodle

This one in celebration of what would have been the 117th birthday of Martha Graham.  Today’s Google Doodle is an animation created by Ryan Woodward.

You can watch the entire sequence on YouTube as well:

And I’ll let you have the fun of picking out Martha Graham in this early image from her Denishawn days, courtesy of the NYPL Digital Gallery.

Denishawn dancers at Mariarden (1922).