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Dance

Starting points for research in dance

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UCI Special Collections

UCI Special Collections and Archives has a wealth of primary source materials in dance. Some of the main collections include:

• McKayle (Donald) Papers - Photographs, programs, production notes, music scores, audio and video recordings, costume designs, reviews, and other printed and graphic materials illustrate the eclectic career of world-renowned choreographer and University of California, Irvine Professor of Dance Donald McKayle. 

Eugene Loring PapersThe Eugene Loring Papers are comprised mainly of production photographs, scrapbooks, programs, and ephemera from the various stages of Loring's career, which culminated in a position as the founding chairman of the University of California, Irvine Dance Department (1965-1978). 

Pavlova (Anna) CollectionThe collection comprises dance programs, photographs, postcards, clippings, and tributes assembled by the University of California, Irvine, Special Collections and Archives to document the career of Anna Pavlova.

• Dance Photograph Collection - The Dance Photograph Collection is comprised of publicity images, taken by commercial photographers and stamped with credit lines. Items date from 1906 to 1970.

• Desti (Mary) Collection on Isadora Duncan - The Mary Desti Collection focuses on the dancer Isadora Duncan. Materials include incoming correspondence from or relating to Duncan, photographs, ephemera, clippings, programs, artifacts and a scrapbook of newspaper clippings. 

• Dougherty (John ) Papers - Los Angeles Dance & Theater 1956-1983 - The John Dougherty Papers illustrate Dougherty's multi-faceted career and the world of Los Angeles dance and theater from 1956 to 1983. 

• Lert (Ruth C.) Dance Library and Archives - The Ruth Clark Lert Archive is a multimedia collection which documents dance history in the twentieth century, primarily in the United States. Ruth Clark Lert, a dance historian, critic and teacher, collected the materials over fifty years, and the collection reflects both her broad interest in dance and her special interests in dance therapymovement for the handicappedGerman dancers Harald Kreutzberg and Mary Wigman, world dance, and dance in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

• McGehee Collection on Ruth St. Denis - The collection is comprised of correspondence, typescripts, manuscripts, newspaper clippings, programs and ephemera collected by Ruth St. Denis' publicist, Clarence McGehee. Most materials, including a scrapbook of newspaper clippings, pertain to Ruth St. Denis and the Denishawn Dancers. 

complete listing of dance materials located in UCI Special Collections and Archives is also available.