Each summer, ADF documents the festival and the school, primarily by videotaping and photographing performances, showings, classes, panel discussions, and other special events. Videos of performances are available to the public in Duke University's Lilly Library or at your library through interlibrary loan. Photographic materials include photographs, contact sheets, negatives, and slides dating from the 1930s to the present. In addition to Festival materials, ADF collects videos, photos, audiotapes, and personal papers that document aspects of modern dance. Go to ADF Collections for descriptions of the materials and methods for access.
Reference Services
The Archives serves the dance community as well the general public, making the ADF collections accessible through remote or onsite research.
Long-term Storage
Safe storage is one of the most cost-effective methods of preservation.
Through ADF's collaboration with Duke, the paper records, photographs,
and videos in the ADF Archives are stored in Duke's Library Services Center,
a state-of-the-art climate controlled facility that houses
Duke's archival collections and some of its books.
ADF publications
ADF publications, for sale at the online Store,
use archival photographs and documents, and cover a wide range of topics,
including the history of modern dance and its interconnections with ADF.
Publications include: Reflections on the Home of an Art Form,
1934–1998 (1998),The Black Tradition in American Modern Dance
(1998), and Dancing Across Cultures: A Decade Plus of International
Development in Modern Dance, 1982–1994 (1995), among others. ADF: The First Fifteen [1992] presents striking performance and
class photographs (including one of Madonna) by Jay Anderson, one of ADF's
staff photographers. Dinner & Dancing: The ADF's Guide to Culinary
Choreography [2000] is a collection of favorite recipes and advice
from ADF performers and choreographers. This season, ADF will publish
“Who’s Not Afraid of Martha Graham?,” a book by ADF
Philosopher-in-Residence Dr. Gerald E. Myers
Dance Archives
ADF is a member of the Dance
Heritage Coalition, an alliance of major dance collections founded
in 1992 that promotes national dance documentation and preservation, making
accessible the materials that document dance of the past, present, and
future.
