Elizabeth Keller Kagan papers
Collection
0427-SCPA-KAGAN
Elizabeth "Betsy" Keller Kagan (b. January 16, 1942; Hartford, Connecticut - d. June 7, 2017; Oakland, California) was an educator, dancer, and choreographer. The Elizabeth Keller Kagan papers range from 1933 to 2007 and contain files and publications related to her work, including instruction materials, books, posters, correspondence, and articles.
Copyright was not transferred to the University of Maryland with the gift of any copyrighted materials. All rights remain with the creators and rights holders. The University of Maryland Libraries is granted permission for the use in scholarly research by the Libraries’ patrons under fair use in Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act.
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The collection is open for research use. Materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room during SCPA’s operating hours. Please contact the curator for an appointment or if you have questions related to digital access of the materials.
13.5 Linear Feet
1 Hard Drives
English
The Elizabeth Keller Kagan papers range from 1933 to 2007 and contain files and publications related to Kagan's work as a movement analyst and dancer. The bulk of the materials range from 1970 to 2000 and include instruction materials, books, posters, correspondence, and articles.
Elizabeth "Betsy" Keller Kagan (b. January 16, 1942; Hartford, Connecticut - d. June 7, 2017; Oakland, California) was an educator, dancer, and choreographer. Kagan was described in the San Francisco Chronicle as "a leader in the field of movement analysis," a system for describing and studying human movement derived from the work of Rudolf Laban.
Kagan was raised in West Hartford, Connecticut. She graduated from Wellesley College in 1963 and earned a Masters in Fine Arts in Dance from New York University in 1969. She trained with the innovative dancer, instructor, and therapist Irmgard Bartenieff in the early 1970s, and also studied with Jose Limon, Merce Cunningham, Martha Graham and Paul Taylor.
Ultimately based in the San Francisco Bay Area, Kagan was active for decades as a dancer, scholar, choreographer, and instructor in functional movement and Laban Movement Analysis (LMA). She was a frequent presenter at Dance Therapy Association conferences and many LMA-related scholarly events.
A founder of the Institute of Movement Exporation in Connecticut, Kagan also taught at Lone Mountain College, Ohio State University, and Mills College, leading a certification program for the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies (LIMS) at the third.
This collection is organized into three series:
Gift of the Elizabeth Keller Kagan estate, via Sophie O'Neill, on September 10, 2021.
Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library