Dance Choreographers Research Guide

Checklist for Doing Research on
Dance Choreographers

The following is a selected list of resources for doing research on Dance Choreographers. For further assistance, contact Ann Shaffer, Dance Reference Librarian, at ashaffer@uoregon.edu.

     

    Defining your topic

     

    Using your text(s) as a start, make a list of contemporary choreographers.

       

      Guides:

       

      Consult these guides to see what resources are available on your choreographer:

       

       

      •  

        • Bopp, Mary S. Research in Dance: a Guide to Resources.
          [MUSIC REF.GV1594 .B67 1994]

        • Getz, Leslie. Dancers and choreographers : a selected bibliography.
          [MUSIC REF. GV1785.A1 .G48 1995]

      Dictionaries:

       

      Consult the following dictionaries to understand what words are used by choreographers:

       

       

      Consult Dance Encyclopedias for a Biography of Your Choreographer.

       

       

       

       

       

      • A particularly important general dance resource is the International Encyclopedia of Dance.
        [MUSIC REF GV1585 .I586 1998] (6 vols.)

      • Another dance-specific encyclopedia is the International Dictionary of Ballet
        [MUSIC REF GV 1585 .I57 1993]

      • A couple of sources that deal specifically with modern dance are: International dictionary of modern dance. [MUSIC REF.GV1585 .I58 1998] and The complete guide to modern dance. [MUSIC REF GV1783 .M26]

      • Consult the bibliographies with the encyclopedia articles to find out other sources of information about your choreographer.

         

        Cite Your Encyclopedia

         

       

      Find Videotapes and DVD's on your Choreographer:

       

       

      • Search the UO Local Catalog (underneath the search bar on the Library's web site) by subject:  Choreographers  and limit it by subject: Interviews. This will give you names of choreographers-and most of these will be videotapes and DVDs of their interviews.

      • Search the names of the choreographers by their last name first in the Author section of the UO Local Catalog and limit your search to Material Type Video & Film with the pull-down window.

      • Search your choreographer's name by Subject in the UO Local Catalog ,searching their last name, then first name as the subject, and using the pull down Material Type limiting window for Video & Film.

         

      • To see what DVDs we have in Dance, browse the Video genre page by going to the Videos & Music page (on the left-hand side of the Library's web page); scroll to the bottom- to Browse all videos by genre- and click on Dance or Dance Instruction or Dance Performance for our DVDs that can be checked out for 3 days.

         

        Cite Your Video

       

      Locate Books on Your Choreographer:

       

      Using the name of the choreographer whose videos you found in our catalog,

       

       

      Find Citations to Journal & Magazine Articles:

       

       

       

       

      Because the discipline of Dance no longer has a useful index to journals on dance, we'll use the Academic Search Premier as our resource for finding articles about choreographers.

       

      To find an article, type in the choreographer's last name, then first name and pull the menu to the right down to People. This will bring up a number of resources. To assure that the article is about the person as a choreographer, type Choreographers on the second line-and pull down the menu to Subject If you want just articles, pull the Document Type panel down to Article.
      Note that you can read a short summary of the article by clicking on the title of the article. Also note that you can save your citation (by clicking on Add to folder) and, in some cases, you can connect to the article by clicking on Full Text.
      If you can't connect to full text at that point, see the following information:

       

      Using Mark Morris as an example, you should get a citation such as this (I've eliminated those areas of the citation that aren't necessary for your bibliography:)

       

       

       

       

       

      Your next step is to find whether or not we own the journals

       

      Locate the Articles the UO owns by the Title of the Journal or Magazine:

       

       

      Find web sites that feature your choreographer

       

       

      Borrow what we don't own:

       

       

      Other Sources:

       

       

      Put Your List of Resources in a Bibliography, Using a Citation Manual.

       

       

      Examples of MLA Handbook form:

       

      CITING VIDEO/FILM:

       

      CITING AN ENCYCLOPEDIA ARTICLE:

       

      CITING A BOOK:

       

      CITING A JOURNAL/MAGAZINE ARTICLE (using the Dance Catalog example):

       

      CITING A WEB SITE
      (using Mark Morris's dance group web site as an example):

       

       

      Return to top

        Search printed and electronic indexes.

      • A good general index that includes dance articles, as well as connections to online journal articles is the Academic Search Premier, available on the UO Library's web site by going to the Find Resources section and click on the box marked Articles, Databases & Indexes. Go to the Database List A-Z, click on the letter A, and scroll down to the Academic Search Premier. Search the choreographer's last name by pulling down the Select Field arrow to Peopleto get articles about a choreographer.

        Find more indexes by subject in the Library's catalog.

      • The Library has provided a list of appropriate indexes for doing research in Dance.  Go to the Articles, Databases, and Indexes site, choose Search by Subject,  then click on Dance.  There you will find a suggestion of the most useful for Dance topics, including a larger list for Dance History.

        Authors: Ulrich, Alan
        Source: Dance Magazine, Aug2007, Vol. 80 Issue 8, p19-19, 2/3p
        Title: Mark Morris: Square Talk and Round Numbers.
        Document Type: Article
        Subject Terms: *CHOREOGRAPHERS
        *DANCE companies
        *DANCE schools *DANCE -- Study & teaching

        People: MORRIS, Mark
        MARK Morris Dance Group (Performer)

        Abstract: (for you to read - not reproduced here.)

        View Links: FIND TEXT; UO Check UO Libraries Catalog.

          • Important things to note:

          • The Title of the article is: Mark Morris: Square Talk and Round Numbers.

          • The Author of the article is: Ulrich, Allan.

          • The Article is located in: Dance Magazine.

          • The Date of the Article is: August 2007.

          • The Page Number of the article is: p.19

          • Other indexes to Dance Articles in paper include:

        •  

           

          • Index to dance periodicals. (published by the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts' Dance Collection)
            [MUSIC REF Z7514.D2 I53-on the Index Table by the Music Reference Desk]

          • Guide to dance periodicals.
            [MUSIC REF KNIGHT Z7514.D2 G8-on the Index Table by the Music Reference Desk]

            • Cite Your Article

           

          • Search UO Local Catalog by clicking on the Title tab, scroll down to Journal Title, then type in the title of the journal in the search box.
            (We'll use (as an example) the journal from the Academic Search Premier entry above. Therefore, you would look up the title: Dance magazine.)

             

          • Once you find the specific magazine title, click on the title, then use the FindText button at the top of screen to find out if we have any online versions of the articles in that magazine.

          • You can also search the UO Dance Journals list at http://library.uoregon.edu/music/Dance/Danceguides/dancejournals.html for a list of what dance journals and magazines we own at the University of Oregon.

           

           

           

           

           

           

          • Consult a citation index.
            (The Arts & Humanities Search is especially good for tracing authors in dance and the humanities).

          • Consult Ulrich's Periodical Directory to find out where other similar journals might be indexed.
            (This source is on the UO Library's web site, under Other Catalogs: Publisher's Directories.)

          • Search the Library of Congress Catalog

             

          • Search Other library catalogs from the UO Library's web site, by going to Find Resources, then click on More and scroll down to the Other Library Catalogs connection.

             

          • Consult a librarian about other sources.
            The UO Dance librarian is Ann Shaffer. You can contact her by e-mail at ashaffer@uoregon.edu

          • Consult authorities about your subject.
            Don't forget to use the Dance Department faculty as resources!

          • Contact an e-mail list on your subject.
            Click on the Dance Organizations section of the Dance web site for additional information on professional listserves.

           

          • For many Dance faculty, the MLA Handbook is the style to use. Try to use the latest edition, because it will include things like web site citations.

          • For copies of the latest edition of the MLA Handbook, see the Knight Reference collection, behind the reference desk, at LB 2369 .G53 2003; there is also a copy in Music Reference (on the third floor) under the same call number.

          Morris, Mark, perf. The Spirit of Dance. Dir. Ed Etsten. Prod. Ken Glazebrook and Norah Dale Allen. DVD. Insight Media, 2003.

           

           

           

            Elements:

          • Performer (in reverse order). Title of the Video.(underlined) Director (if listed). Producer (if listed). Other performers (if important). Type of medium. Name of video company, date of publication.

             

              See: MLA 5.8.3.

          "Morris, Mark." International Encyclopedia of Dance. Ed. Selma Cohen. 6 vols. New York: Oxford UP, 1998.

           

           

           

            Elements:

          • Name of author of article (if different from editor)-in reverse order. "Title of the article." (as it appears in the encyclopedia). Name of the encyclopedia (underlined). Editor of the encyclopedia (if not the person listed as the author of the article.) Number of volumes. City of Publication (and state, if the city isn't commonly known): Name of publisher, date of publication.

             

              See: MLA 5.6.8

          Acocella, Joan Ross. Mark Morris. New York: Farrar Straus Giroux, 1993.

           

           

           

            Elements:

          • Name of author(s) (with the first one reversed). Title of the book. (underlined). Edition (if it is not the first edition). Place of publication (including the state, if the city isn't commonly known): Name of publisher, date of publication.

             

              See: MLA 5.6.1

          Ulrich, Allan. "Mark Morris: Square Talk and Round Numbers." Dance Magazine  80.8 (2007): 19.

           

           

           

            Elements:

          • Name of author of the article (in reverse order)-if there isn't an author, the title goes first. "Title of the article." Name of the journal (underlined) Volume of the article (if there is one- if not, put the month and the year as is- if a volume, put (year of publication) in parentheses: page number(s).

             

              See: MLA 5.7.1

          "Biography." Mark Morris Dance Group. n.d. Mark Morris Dance Group. 12 Oct. 2009. <http://markmorrisdancegroup.org/the_company/about_mark_morris>

           

           

           

            Elements:

          • Author of the web site (if you can find one)-in reverse order. "Title of the section you looked at." (if not the whole site) Title of the web site. (underlined) Publication date(s) (if you can find one-usually at the bottom of the home screen- if none, put n.d.) Name of the producing body or organization. Date you accessed the web site-with the day, then the abbreviated month, then the year, then the web site address.

             

              See: MLA 5.9.1.

          For other clues on how to cite items from the Web, see Citing Electronic Resources

            In general: Larger works are underlined; bibliographies are put in alphabetical order (by the first element, be it the author or the title in the citation); periods and single spaces separate the various elements of the citations; if the citation is longer than a line, you indent the next line by one tab mark; and bibliographies are double spaced within entries as well as between entries.

             

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