Reference Sources
Reference sources are designed to provide users with quick and authoritative background information on a given subject. They are the ideal place to familiarize yourself with a subject and its existing literature, although they should never be the culmination of your research process. On this page, learn about important reference databases like Oxford Reference Online, explore specific entries, and view recommended reference books.
Oxford Reference Online
Oxford Reference Online includes electronic versions of two major dance reference sources: The Oxford Dictionary of Dance, Second Edition and The International Encyclopedia of Dance. Find them under the subject "Performing Arts." To search for entries, use either the main search bar at the top of your screen to search the entirety of Oxford Reference Online, or try "Search within work" located at the left to search a selected publication. You can also browse entries alphabetically, including terms, people, and organizations. Print versions of these publications are also available in the stacks.
Also see the page Online Resources for additional content from the Library of Congress and major production companies like the American Ballet Theatre and Jacob's Pillow.
Print and Digital Reference Books
Print reference works on dance can be found on Bracken Library's Third Floor West shelved with other books about dance. Many reference books are in GV 1585 at the beginning of the dance section. The recommended books below are sorted by their call numbers. Click on the info icon to see a description of the book.
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International Dictionary of Modern Dance
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Offering an up-to-date and comprehensive examination of modern dance, this reference offers alphabetically arranged essays, selected, written and reviewed by expert contributors.
Call Number: GV1585 .B46 1998Publication Date: 1998 -
The Oxford Dictionary of Dance (Print and eBook)
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With over 2,600 entries, the second edition of The Oxford Dictionary of Dance is a unique single volume reference on all aspects of dance performance written by two leading dance writers, Debra Craine and Judith Mackrell. The work covers all aspects of the diverse dance world from classical ballet to modern, from flamenco to hip-hop, from tap to South Asian dance forms and includes detailed entries on technical terms, steps, styles, works and countries, in addition to many biographies of dancers, choreographers, and companies.
Call Number: GV1585 .C78 2010 and Oxford Reference OnlinePublication Date: 2010 -
The International Encyclopedia of Dance (Print and eBook)
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With nearly 2,000 articles written by scholars from fifty countries, the Encyclopedia 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.
Call Number: GV1585 .I586 1998 and Oxford Reference OnlinePublication Date: 2005 -
Fifty Contemporary Choreographers
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A unique and authoritative guide to the lives and work of prominent living contemporary choreographers. Representing a wide range of dance genres, each entry locates the individual in the context of modern dance theatre and explores their impact. Those studied include: Jerome Bel, Richard Alston, Doug Varone, William Forsythe, Phillippe Decoufle, Jawole Willa, Jo Zollar, Ohad Naharin, Itzik Gallili, Twyla Tharp, and Wim Vandekeybus. With a new, updated introduction by Deborah Jowitt and further reading and references throughout, this text is an invaluable resource for all students and critics of dance, and all those interested in the fascinating world of choreography.
Call Number: GV1785.A1 F54 2011Publication Date: 2011 -
The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet
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In distinction to many extant histories of ballet, The Oxford Handbook of Contemporary Ballet prioritizes connections between ballet communities as it interweaves chapters by scholars, critics, choreographers, and working professional dancers. The book looks at the many ways ballet functions as a global practice in the 21st century, providing new perspectives on ballet's past, present, and future. As an effort to dismantle the linearity of academic canons, the fifty-three chapters within provide multiple entry points for readers to engage in balletic discourse. With an emphasis on composition and process alongside dances created, and the assertion that contemporary ballet is a definitive era, the book carves out space for critical inquiry. Many of the chapters consider whether or not ballet can reconcile its past and actually become present, while others see ballet as flexible and willing to be remolded at the hands of those with tools to do so.
Call Number: GV1787 .O84 2021Publication Date: 2021 -
The Encyclopedia of World Ballet (eBook)
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In The Encyclopedia of World Ballet, Mary Ellen Snodgrass surveys the emergence of ballet from ancient Asian models to the present, providing overviews of rhythmic movement as a subject of art, photography, and cinema. Entries in this volume reveal the nature and purpose of ballet, detailing specifics about leaders in classic design and style, influential costumers and companies, and trends in technique, partnering, variation, and liturgical execution.
Call Number: ProQuest Ebook CentralPublication Date: 2015
Interlibrary Loan
Users are encouraged to search for items beyond University Libraries' catalog via International Bibliography of Theatre & Dance and WorldCat. Materials not available in print or online may be requested through Interlibrary Loan. Please allow up to seven days for electronic delivery and up to fourteen days for delivery of physical items.