Dance Research Guide
Bibliographer for DanceBooks
CUNY+ Catalog
This lists all of our books, journals, and other resources. Please note that you must search for books or journals, NOT for individual chapters or articles within them.
Subject Headings
Use a Subject begins with… search to find books if you already know how they are described in the catalog. Here are some terms that are important in dance:
- Ballet.
- Ballets -- Stories, Plots, Etc.
- Ballroom dancing.
- Choreography.
- Dance.
- Dance -- Dictionaries.
- Dance -- Encyclopedias.
- Dance -- History.
- Dance -- Philosophy.
- Dance -- Study and Teaching.
- Dance -- Technique.
- Dance Notation.
- Dance Therapy.
- Dancers -- Biography.
- Jazz Dance.
- Modern dance.
- Modern dance -- History.
- Movement, Aesthetics of.
- Movement Education.
- Tap Dancing.
Searching under these headings will bring up an alphabetical list of subject headings, which you can read to find more subject headings related to your topic.
More Search Tips
If you are searching for biographies or information about a specific person, try a Subject begins with… search for that person's last name.
Example: Graham, Martha.
If you are interested in dance in a specific country, add that country's name to the heading “Dance.”
Example: Dance -- India.
Dictionaries and Encyclopedias are excellent places to begin your research. There are some related to specific dance styles as well as to dance in general.
Example: Ballet -- Dictionaries.
Call Numbers
You can also look for books near others on the shelf. Try Floor 3 for reference materials and Floor 4 (or sometimes Floor 5) for other books. Most books on dance can be found at GV 1580-1799.4.
If you don't have experience reading call numbers, this tutorial can help.
Articles
Databases
- International Bibliography of Theatre and Dance
- Includes a wide variety of journals in the performing arts. A good starting point. If you are looking for reviews, try selecting Entertainment Reviews in the Document Type box.
- JSTOR
- A multidisciplinary, full-text database covering nearly every subject, including the performing arts.
- ARTstor
- Searchable, digital library of nearly one million images, including dance images.
- RILM Abstracts of Music Literature
- This is a music database, but it covers topics in dance as well. It is especially useful for international dance topics.
All these databases and more can be found on the Queens College Databases page. You can use the drop-down menu to sort for only dance-related databases.
Accessing Articles
FindIt
Sometimes, a database will not have the full text of an article. However, there is still a good chance we own the article.
- Click on the orange FindIt button.
- If you see a link that says Full Text, click on it for full text.
- If you see a message that says CUNY has a copy, click to see library holdings. Make sure to check the date to see if we have that issue!
- If we do not have a copy, click on Interlibrary Loan. The first time you do this, you need to make an account. We will get the article for you.
CUNY+
Some databases are not compatible with FindIt, or you may have a citation from elsewhere.
Search CUNY+ for the journal title, NOT the article title. Then click on Queens to see which volumes and issues the library holds.
Videos
CUNY+
To search for videos in CUNY+, use the Guided Search.
Under Format Type, select Visual Materials.
Type your search in the search boxes. A Subject search for dance or dancing retrieves 55 items as of this writing.
Web Resources & Dance Organizations
Research Guides
- Accelerated Motion
- A collection of dance resources aligned on two pathways: the Body in Society and Dance History. Here you can find valuable primary resources, including video excerpts and illustrations from dances.
- Artist's Resource Guide
- A portal to resources for artists created and maintained by the Pew Fellowship in the Arts. Includes links to newspapers, grant and fellowship organizations, employment resources, and more.
- Jacob's Pillow Dance Interactive
- An online exhibit of brief video excerpts from dances, spanning several genres and many decades.
- New York Public Library Dance Research Guide
- Many types of resources are available here, from books to grants to festivals and dance companies.
- University of Oregon Dance Research Guide
- See the Web Resources section of the page in particular for directories to guides to research on topics such as choreography and world dance.
Dance Organizations
- American Dance Guild
- A New York based dance association serving all dance professionals.
- American Dance Therapy Association
- The only organization solely dedicated to the growth and enhancement of the profession of dance/movement therapy.
- American College Dance Festival Association
- Exists to support and affirm the role of dance in higher education primarily through the sponsorship of college/university regional conferences and national dance festivals.
- Congress on Research In Dance (CORD)
- Provides opportunities for dance professionals from a broad range of specialities to exchange ideas, resources and methodologies through publication, international and regional conferences, and workshops.
- Dance Critics Association
- The Dance Critics Association consists of professional practitioners of dance criticism. It seeks to further the identity of dance criticism as a profession, to offer its members solidarity, and to provide the means of exchanging information and exploring fresh approaches to critical writing.
- Dance Notation Bureau
- The DNB created Labanotation. Their website provides basic information on Labanotation, lists their publications, and offers correspondence courses. For another type of dance notation, see Dance Writing.
- Dance Theater Workshop
- Dance Theater Workshop is a center for the development and presentation of contemporary dance and performance, and for the artists who create it. Dance Theater Workshop fully presents over 110 performances by some 45 different artists and companies each year.
- National Dance Education Association
- National Dance Education Organization (NDEO) advances dance education centered in the arts. To this end, NDEO works with artists, educators, and administrators in all environments where dance is taught.
