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Dance/USA Philadelphia Records
Notifications
Held at: Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center [Contact Us]
This is a finding aid. It is a description of archival material held at the Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center. Unless otherwise noted, the materials described below are physically available in their reading room, and not digitally available through the web.
Overview and metadata sections
Dance/USA Philadelphia (Dance/UP) was established in March 2007, as a branch of a Washington, DC based non-profit organization. With Lois Welk as Director, Dance/UP followed on several organized efforts to support dance in Philadelphia and provided leadership and advocacy to the local dance community. It worked collaboratively with other performing arts organizations and developed programs such as Dance in Public Places and New Stages for Dance, among others.
The organization closed on March 31, 2015, after losing grant funding from its primary funder, the William Penn Foundation.
The Dance/UP Records document nearly twenty years of dance advocacy in Philadelphia, including several predecessor efforts, from 1988 to 2015. The collection includes administrative records, program files, digital photographs and videos, and printed materials that evidence Dance/Up programs and events. There are also reference materials, documenting assorted dance companies, choreographers, and other organizations in Philadelphia and elsewhere.
The collection is arranged into 5 series as follows:
- Series 1: Administrative files, 2004-2014, undated
- Series 2: Program files, 2002-2015, undated
- Series 3: Digital photographs and audiovisual materials, 2004-2014
- Series 4: Publicity and printed materials, 1985-2008, undated
- Series 5: Companies, choreographers, organizations, 1988-2008
- Subseries 5.1: Philadelphia, 1998-2008, undated
- Subseries 5.2: Other locations, 1996-2008, undated
Donated by Dance/USA Philadelphia, via Marcel W. Foster, Operations Manager, April 2015.
Original audiovisual materials, as well as preservation and duplicating masters, may not be played. Researchers must consult use copies, or if none exist must pay for a use copy. Certain digital files may also be inaccessible. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
Collection minimally processed and finding aid prepared in June 2015 by Patrick Stalter, student worker, supervised by Courtney Smerz, Collection Management Archivist.
Organization
Subject
- Dance -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Dance archives -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
- Dance companies
- Dance festivals
Place
- Publisher
- Temple University Libraries: Special Collections Research Center
- Finding Aid Author
- Machine-readable finding aid created by: Rajkumar Natarajan, Sky Global Services India (P) Ltd.
- Finding Aid Date
- November 2023
- Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Use Restrictions
-
The Dance/UP Records are the physical property of the Special Collections Research Center, Temple University Libraries. Intellectual property rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. Researchers are responsible for determining the identity of rights holders and obtaining their permission for publication and for other purposes where stated.
Collection Inventory
Series 1 includes Advisory Committee meeting minutes, business plans, financial records, and documentation of grant writing, as well as some records that document the work of predecessor dance advocacy groups, such as the Dance Services Steering Committees. There are also scrapbooks, which evidence Dance/UP's activities from 2006 to 2014 and records that document partnerships with the Mayor's Cultural Advisory Council and the Philadelphia Cultural Fund.
Series 2 offers documentation of Dance/UP's programs and projects, as well as collaborative efforts with other arts and dance organizations like Dance Advance and the Philadelphia Fringe Festival. Notable projects include, "Dance in Public Places," an effort to increase performers' visibility by performing in public locations; "New Stages for Dance," a program that provided theater rental subsidies; "The Philadelphia Dance Collection," which documents dance heritage in the Philadelphia region; "Philadelphia DancePass," a discount rewards program for area dancers; and "Philadelphia is Dancing," a dance-themed calendar that served as a fundraiser for Dance/UP.
Series 3 houses digital photographs and video content of Dance/Up events and performances.
Researchers should note that original audiovisual materials may not be accessed. Researchers must consult use copies, or, if none exist, must pay for a use copy. Certain digital files may also be inaccessible. Please contact the Special Collections Research Center for more information.
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Series 4 contains printed materials that Dance/UP created or collected, including press clippings; information on dance festivals, conferences, and/or exhibitions.
Series 5 includes brochures and pamphlets collected by Dance/UP about dance organizations and people. It is divided into two subseries. Subseries 5.1 houses materials relating to Philadelphia-based performers and organizations, and Subseries 5.2 contains materials relating to other domestic and international performers and organizations.