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Creator
Cohen, Selma Jeanne, 1920-2005
Call number
*MGZEB 22-0024
Physical description
1.08 linear feet (3 boxes)
Language
Multiple languages; Collection is predominantly in English. Some materials are in Russian, which is indicated in the container list.
Preferred Citation
Selma Jeanne Cohen photographs, *MGZEB 22-0024. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts
Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Selma Jeanne Cohen (1920-2005) was a dance historian best known for editing the International Encyclopedia of Dance (1998). The collection, dated from 1947 to 1989, contains photographs of dance companies, stage productions, and dancers that Cohen utilized in her work.

Biographical/historical information

Selma Jeanne Cohen (1920-2005) was an author, editor, and scholar of dance history who advocated that dance receive the same scholarly respect as that given to literature or painting. Cohen earned a Ph.D. in English literature from the University of Chicago in 1946, and moved to New York City in 1953. She worked as a dance critic and reviewer for Dance Observer, The New York Times (1955-1958) and The Saturday Review (1965-1966).

In 1966, Cohen founded the Dance Perspectives Foundation, along with Karl Leabo, Martha Hill, José Rollins de la Torre Bueno, and Edwin Derby. The organization was devoted to supporting dance scholarship, publishing academic and reference works, sponsoring lectures and conferences, and providing research and travel grants to dance scholars. From 1966 to 1976, the Foundation published Dance Perspectives, originally founded by Cohen with A.J. Pischl in 1959. Dance Perspectives was a quarterly journal specializing in scholarly monographs on a wide variety of dance topics, and was one of the first journals dedicated to international dance history. Cohen served as an editor for Perspectives from 1966 until 1976, when it ceased publication.

In the same year, the Foundation earned a National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) grant to create a comprehensive scholarly reference work covering the history of dance. Cohen was selected to be the editor-in-chief of the project. The six-volume, 4,000 page International Encyclopedia of Dance (Oxford University Press, 1998) took two decades to complete and was her last major project, though she continued working, writing, and teaching after Dance Encyclopedia was published.

Selma Jeanne Cohen died December 23, 2005, at her home in New York.

Scope and arrangement

The collection, dated 1947 to 1989, contains prints and negatives Cohen used to support and illustrate her dance history scholarship. Cohen expanded this field through her work with the Dance Perspectives academic journal; the Dance Perspectives Foundation; and the International Encyclopedia of Dance. The collection is arranged topically into photographs that depict dance companies; dance performances; individual dancers and choreographers; and unsourced scans of dance artwork. All images are arranged alphabetically by name or title within each grouping.

The Companies grouping contains photography of American and European dance companies, with a particular focus on American and Soviet ballet companies. Some companies included are the Royal Ballet, the New York City Ballet, the Denishawn School, and the Kirov Ballet of Leningrad (now the Mariinsky Ballet). Images of Asian story dance-dramas, such as Japanese Noh, Korean talchum, and southern Indian kathakali, are also included.

Performances contains photographs of festivals and events, such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music Next Wave Festival and images from the 1979 season at Jacob's Pillow. Items in this grouping were not associated with a specific company.

Dancers and Choreographers includes photographs of Ze'eva Cohen, George Balanchine, Bella Lewitzky, and Doris Humphrey, among others. Items in this grouping were not associated with a specific company or a particular performance.

Dance Artwork contains negatives of illustrations and prints of abstract art that are inspired by dance.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Donated by Selma Jeanne Cohen in 1989.

Processing information

Processed by Em Longan in 2022.

Related Material

Selma Jeanne Cohen Papers, (S)*MGZMD 145, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Selma Jeanne Cohen papers, (S) *MGZMD 258, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.

Selma Jean Cohen Papers Relating to Dance Perspectives, (S) *MGZMD 56, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

International Encyclopedia of Dance Records, (S) *MGZMD 151, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Selma Jeanne Cohen Papers, (S)*MGZMD 62, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor