Library Guides: Dance &amp; Theatre Library Guide: Getting Started with Reference

Self-Teaching the Basics

The library is for more than just research - you can find guidebooks and other introductory resources to supplement your skills and knowledge building. There's also a growing collection of freely available, open access, online course and learning material. Apply the same critical evaluation skills to selecting your open access learning resource that you would apply to selecting your research paper resources, asking who is the author, who is the audience, what is the purpose, etc.

MIT Open Courseware
MIT Open Courseware includes a number of open access, introductory level courses in dance, theatre, and theatrical design
Merlot
Merlot is a repository of open access learning materials and includes a number of introductory materials for theatre. The quality of the learning objects have been rated by users, you will need to apply critical review skills to select resources appropriate for your learning needs.

Best Bets:

Dance Online: Dance Studies Collection This link opens in a new window
Dance Online: Dance Studies Collection presents the historical context of 20th and 21st century dance through 150,000 pages of exclusive photographs, correspondence, magazines, dance notation, and reference material that dissolve the distance between archive and scholar and draw dance students into the library.

International Encyclopedia of Dance
Cultural and national overviews are accompanied by entries on dance forms, music and costumes, performances, and biographies of dancers and choreographers.
Oxford Dictionary of Dance
Includes detailed entries on technical terms, steps, styles, works, and countries, in addition to many biographies of dancers, choreographers, and companies.
Online Ballet Dictionary
A resource from the American Ballet Theatre of major ballet terms along with video demonstrations of some movements.

Related Fields:

Encyclopedia of Aesthetics (Oxford, 2nd Edition)
Surveys the full breadth of critical thought on art, culture, and society—from classical philosophy to contemporary critical theory.

Oxford Music Online This link opens in a new window
The gateway to all Oxford's music resources, including Grove Music Online, Oxford Dictionary of Music, and Oxford Companion to Music.
Music Online: The Garland Encyclopedia of World Music This link opens in a new window
Covers music from around the world with essays and images.

Best Bets:

Theatre in Context Collection This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive resource covering all aspects of Canadian and American Theatre. It includes reference materials and records to plays, people, theatres, productions and production companies.

The Oxford Companion to Theatre & Performance
Covers styles and movements, organizations, regions and traditions with a focus on biographies of actors, playwrights, directors, and designers.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Theatre & Performance
Provides up-to-date information about theatre and performance from ancient Greek theatre to the latest developments around the world.

The A to Z of African American Theater
Call Number: online
Includes actors, directors, playwrights, plays, theater producing organizations, themes, locations, and theater movements and awards.

Biography in Context This link opens in a new window
Offers authoritative reference content alongside magazine and journal articles, primary sources, videos, audio podcasts, and images. Covering a vast array of people from historically significant figures to present-day newsmakers, it’s continuously updated to ensure that students have access to the very latest information.

Fifty Contemporary Choreographers
Call Number: GV1785.A1 F54 2011
Publication Date: 2011-04-20
A unique and authoritative guide to the lives and work of prominent living contemporary choreographers.
Encyclopedia of North American Theater
Covers all aspects of the Canadian and American Theatre.