Research Guides: Dance 100: Getting Started

Dance Reference Sources

International Encyclopedia of Dance
Covers the full spectrum of dance—theatrical, ritual, dance-drama, folk, traditional, ethnic, and social dance. Cultural and national overviews are accompanied by entries on dance forms, music and costumes, performances, and biographies of dancers and choreographers.
Garland Encyclopedia of World Music
Call Number: SAWYER REFERENCE ML100 .G16 1997
In addition to music, this encyclopedia covers dance traditions around the world. Look for "dance and movement" in the index for each country volume. Essays include bibliographies for further research.

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Biographical Information

MoBBallet: Curating the Memoirs of Blacks in Ballet
Preserves, presents, and promotes the contributions and stories of Black artists in the field of ballet, illustrating that they are an integral part of dance history at large. Portions of The Constellation Project were researched by Williams dance students.

Biography (Gale in Context)
Provides full text of biographical profiles from reference sources, related articles from newspapers, magazines, and journals, and multimedia content. Covers people from all periods of history from around the world. Includes reference works such as International Dictionary of Ballet and International Dictionary of Modern Dance.

Historical Context

Encyclopaedia Britannica Online
Academic edition. Authoritative source for general background information.
Chronology of World History
Call Number: SAWYER REFERENCE D11 .M39 1999
Lists important events in politics, government, and economics; science, technology and medicine; arts and ideas; and society from pre-history to 1998. Arranged by year and day.
Dictionary of American History
A standard reference work in United States history. Covers prehistory to 2002. Also available in print (SAWYER REFERENCE E174 .D52 2003).
Encyclopedia of American Social History
Call Number: SAWYER REFERENCE HN57 .E58 1993
Provides information on ethnic and racial subcultures; regionalism and regional subcultures; patterns of everyday life; work and labor; and popular culture and recreation. Few illustrations.
Encyclopedia of European Social History
Call Number: SAWYER REFERENCE HN373 .E63 2001
Contains information about social structure; culture and popular culture; recreation and leisure; and everyday life from 1350-2000. Some illustrations.