The Directory presents capsule summaries describing a selection of dance resources in Canada. In addition to archival and library collections, the descriptive entries provide examples of collections held in different dance community contexts, including companies, community organizations and presenters.

This directory is intended to serve as a resource:

• for researchers seeking Canadian dance sources;
   
• for dance practitioners, companies and organizations looking for heritage collecting models;
   
• for comparative information on collecting mandates, for use by owners of dance materials who may be seeking an appropriate repository for their donation.

This Directory is not comprehensive. It captures information collected during the course of a selective study on dance collections in Canada conducted in 1999-2000, as well as information collected in ongoing contacts with the dance and heritage communities. These are intended as pilot entries, and numerous other significant sources will be required for a more systematic and comprehensive undertaking. Missing from this directory are significant collections in Montreal, Winnipeg, in Western Canada and many other Canadian locations that were not part of the initial sampling for the dance collections study, but merit listing here. Also missing are capsule summaries of dance holdings held by many other heritage repositories such as libraries, archives and museums operating in national, provincial/territorial and university contexts.

Click on the name of the organizations below to see capsule summaries, collection strengths and contact information.

1.1 Toronto Reference Library - Toronto, Ontario

1.2 York University Libraries - Toronto, Ontario

2.1 Dance Collection Danse - Toronto, Ontario

2.2 Dancemakers - Toronto, Ontario

2.3 Danny Grossman Dance Company - Toronto, Ontario

2.4 DANS (Dance Nova Scotia) - Halifax, Nova Scotia

2.5 L’école supérieure de danse du Québec, Bibliothèque de la danse -
Montreal, Quebec

2.6 Live Art Productions - Halifax, Nova Scotia

2.7 National Ballet of Canada - Toronto, Ontario

2.8 The Dance Centre - Vancouver, British Columbia

2.9 Tangente - Montreal, Quebec

2.10 Vancouver Ballet Society - Vancouver, British Columbia

2.11 Dance Saskatchewan Resource Centre - Saskatoon, Saskatchewan

See also Dance Resources in Canadian Libraries by Clifford Collier and Pierre Guilmette (Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1982) for an earlier work that focusses on library holdings.

This directory was prepared by Theresa Rowat, with research by Allison Lennox, and input from contacts at the various organizations. The research and preparation of the pilot entries were supported by the Dance Section of the The Canada Council for the Arts.

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