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Maryland Dance Theater records

 Collection 0012-SCPA
Maryland Dance Theater, founded on the University of Maryland campus in 1971 by Dorothy Madden and Larry Warren, performed contemporary dance in the DC and Baltimore metro areas until it disbanded in 1988. Its repertory embraced a wide variety of movement, styles, and theatrical concepts. The company also provided dance education through lecture demonstrations and master classes. The Maryland Dance Theater records consists of programs, photographs, correspondence, press clippings, publicity materials, various records of performance, and other organizational documents outlining its history. The Media formats in the MDT Archives are located in Nonprint Media Services. Paper documents, including photographs, are in Special Collections in Performing Arts.

Dates

  • 1973-2008
  • Majority of material found within 1973-1988

Use and Access to Collection

The collection is open for research use.

Duplication and Copyright Information

Materials from this collection must be used in the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library's Irving and Margery Morgan Lowens Special Collections Room, 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday through Friday. Contact the curator for an appointment: http://www.lib.umd.edu/scpa/contact

Extent

4.50 Linear Feet

Additional Description

Scope and Content of Collection

The Maryland Dance Theater records cover the period from 1965 to 1994; the bulk of the materials date from 1973-1988. The collection contains press clippings, newsletters, programs, correspondence, publicity materials, reviews, financial records, and photographs outlining the company's history.

Administrative History

Maryland Dance Theater performed contemporary dance in the DC and Baltimore metro areas from 1971 to 1988. Its repertory embraced a wide variety of movement, styles, and theatrical concepts, and provided dance education through lecture demonstrations and master classes. The company was founded on the University of Maryland campus in 1971 by Director Dr. Dorothy Madden, the first Chair of the Department of Dance at the University of Maryland, and by Associate Director Larry Warren, Professor of Dance at the university.

Born and raised in Manchester, New Hampshire, Dr. Madden received her Bachelor of Arts from Middlebury College, her Master of Arts from Syracuse University, and her PhD from New York University. She studied dance in New York, Washington, DC, Boston, Tokyo, and London, and danced in Washington with several companies including The Chamber Dance Group, Children's Dance Theatre and the companies of Pola Nirenska and Ethel Butler. She was Professor Emerita of the University of Maryland, and Doctor Honoris Causa from the Federacion Francaise de Danse in Paris. Dr. Madden was also the author of You Call Me Louis, Not Mr. Horst. Dr. Madden died in 2009.

In 1976, Larry Warren became Co-director of the company. From 1977 until 1988, Mr. Warren assumed direction, with Anne Warren serving as Rehearsal Director and later as Associate Director. Both professors at the University of Maryland, Mr. and Mrs. Warren acted as choreographers (and she as a principal dancer) for the company in performances throughout the Mid-Atlantic states. It was under their direction that the Maryland Dance Theater earned national recognition, becoming one of the few companies selected for the National Endowment for the Arts Touring Program.

Mr. Warren was Professor at the University of Maryland until 1995, and was Professor Emeritus until his death in 2009. He authored biographies on Lester Horton and Anna Sokolow, the latter of which was awarded a special citation from Dance Perspectives. Mrs. Warren is Associate Chair of the Dance Department and Director of Undergraduate Dance Studies at the University of Maryland. In 1986, the Warrens jointly received the Maryland Dance Council's Outstanding Service to Dance in Maryland Award. They were also the recipients of the 2000-2001 Pola Nirenska Lifetime Achievement Award in Dance, presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society. In 1987, Mrs. Warren earned the Arts Achievement Award in Dance from Wayne State University.

Arrangement

This collection is comprised of nine series.
  1. Clippings
  2. Newsletters
  3. Correspondence
  4. Programs
  5. Publicity
  6. Criticism
  7. History and Records
  8. Financial
  9. Photographs

Custodial History and Acquisition Information

Gift in March 1995 of Maryland Dance Theater, Inc., Professors Lawrence and Anne W. Warren, principals, with numerous additional gifts contributed through to June 2015.

Related Material

Videos of the Maryland Dance Theater are available from Nonprint Media Services located in the University of Maryland's Hornbake Library. Some of the titles included in the collection are listed below.
  1. Dances by Anne Warren. Maryland Dance Theater. DVD. Call Number: GV1783 .D366 2005. Contents: Simple symphony (15 min.) -- Mosaic (12 min.) -- Dance for strings (15 min.) -- Damascene (10 min.) -- Duets (11 min.) -- Dance rhythms (7 min.) -- Dance in red (6 min.) -- Damascene: studio performance (10 min.)
  2. Dances by Larry Warren. Maryland Dance Theater. DVD. Call Number: GV1783 .D367 2005 vol. 1. Contents: Another voice (5 min.) -- Groundplan (26 min.) -- Playlet (19 min.) -- Post cards : 1981 performance (18 min.) -- Post cards : 1982 performance (18 min.)
  3. Dances by Larry Warren. Maryland Dance Theater. DVD. Call Number: GV1783 .D367 2005 vol. 2. Contents: Party game (21 min.) -- Poems for a poet (34 min.) -- Playlet : 1980 performance (19 min.) -- Excerpt from Party game (15 min.)
For other related archival and manuscript collections, please see the following subject guides.

Bibliography

Bobrowsky, Stephanie. "MDT: Dancing into its Second Decade" Precis: Faculty/Staff Newsletter of the University of Maryland, College Park Campus. Volume 11, Number 22. Februray 23, 1981.

Topics

Administrative Information

Title
Maryland Dance Theater records
Status
Completed
Author
Jeni Dahmus, Mary Edsall, and Stephanie Keller; revised by Amy Grossnickle and Cassandra N. Berman.
Date
October 1998; revised June 2011
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Code for undetermined script
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English

Library Details

Library Details

Part of the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library

http://www.lib.umd.edu/mspal
Contact:
University of Maryland Libraries
8270 Alumni Drive
College Park MD 20742 United States

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Special Collections and University Archives

Maryland Room
Hornbake Library
4130 Campus Drive
University of Maryland,
College Park, MD 20742

301-405-9212
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Special Collections in Performing Arts
International Piano Archives at Maryland

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Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library
8270 Alumni Drive
College Park, MD 20742

301-405-9217
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