Scope and arrangement
The David Coffman collection of Mel Howard Enterprises photographs documents dance companies and productions represented by the company from the 1970s to 1991. The majority of the collection consists of black-and-white and color prints with a few black-and-white and color negatives, contact sheets, and slides. Productions of Ballet Nacional Festivales de España from the 1970s to 1980s are heavily represented in the collection. Aside from Ballet Nacional Festivales de España, most of the collection contains photographic material from other dance productions produced, and sometimes created, by Mel Howard. However, three international dance companies -- Ballet Théâtre Français de Nancy, Ballet de l'Opéra de Lyon, and National Dance Company of Senegal -- represented by Mel Howard Enterprises are also included in the collection.
The bulk of the collection documents dancers during rehearsals and performances. The prints were created largely for publicity purposes. The back side of most of the prints contains inscriptions that identify performers and production titles. Some prints from productions of Africa Oye! and Tango Argentino have press release information attached to the back side of the print. The collection also includes some professional headshots of members of the cast and creative teams from productions of Antologia de la Zarzuela and Tango Argentino. There are a small number of candid photographs of cast and crew members from productions of Tango Argentino.
Arrangement
The collection is filed alphabetically by production or company title. The small number of negatives and slides which were interfiled in the collection by production or company title have been separated from prints and filed by production or company title.