About the Library

The Dance Notation Bureau Library houses the world's most extensive collection of original Labanotated dance scores.

Alongside the scores, the Library archives a wide range of materials necessary for staging dances, including music scores, audio and visual recordings, production information, historical documents, and other items relevant to dance. Our mission is to preserve these materials and make them as accessible as possible for continued performance, classroom use, and scholarly research.

OUR COLLECTIONS:

1
Notated Theatrical Dances

In honor of Maria Grandy’s dedication to the DNB, the circulating collection is named The Maria Grandy Circulating Collection. This collection reflects her commitment to staging repertory from score and using notation in dancer training. It ensures her spirit accompanies every work sent out for study or remounting.

Our archive of audiovisual materials dates back to 1955, including original videotapes in various formats and selections of LP phonograph records. This collection is currently housed at The Ohio State University Library.
This collection contains scores of theatrical dance works recorded in Benesh Movement Notation between 1966 and 1980 by Richard Holden. It includes works by Ashton, Bournonville, Fokine, Holden, and Petipa. Use of this collection is restricted. This collection is currently housed at The Ohio State University Library.

The DNB Library has a limited collection of published material on the dances of Noa Eshkol, recorded in Eshkol-Wachmann Movement Notation from 1954-1978. Eshkol-Wachmann Movement Notation was developed between 1951 and 1956 by Noa Eshkol and Abraham Wachmann in Israel. This collection is currently located at The Ohio State University Library.

The Photograph Archives includes negatives and prints donated over the years, documenting choreographers, dance companies, and the history of the DNB. Photographs do not circulate. With permission of the copyright holders, some photographs can be reproduced for publication or exhibition purposes. This collection is currently housed at The Ohio State University Library.

The International Council of Kinetography Laban (ICKL) collection houses materials related to Labanotation, publications of technical papers, and ICKL conference proceedings. Labanotation has been modified and built on the consensus of the notators who come together every two years at the ICKL conferences since 1959. ICKL sets usage standards; promotes research in order to increase efficiency of the system; and disseminates information about the system. This collection is currently housed at The Ohio State University Library.

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