In 1956, a dance film enthusiast named Susan Braun began searching for footage of Isadora Duncan. When her search came up short, Braun founded DFA. A tireless advocate, Ms. Braun devoted her life to preserving dance films and videos until her death in 1995. DFA’s overarching goal for preservation is to make more resources such as the Dance and Media timeline.
This year, DFA has explored systems to allow online access to a compendious and historic archive of Dance on Camera selections. We are working with the New York Library of Performing Arts to create digital files of those films housed at the library and to make them available to DFA members for research and education.
In 2014, DFA launched Dance Films Builds an Archive on Kickstarter, raising $13,234 towards building an archive that will change the history of dance on film, making nearly 60 years of ground breaking footage accessible. We envision a definition of preservation that aligns with current, innovative industry methods to create an accessible archive that empowers you to customize your discovery of dance film; to use of our archive not only as a library, but as a collaborative, open-ended vault that serves a range of needs from inspiration to entertainment, and that merges exhibition and experience. Given this range, we want to make our archive navigable and searchable, so that you may customize your experience.
