Scope and arrangement
The Janet Mansfield Soares papers document the professional life of the dancer, choreographer and author - with a focus on her choreography and research. Materials consist of choreographic notes, teaching materials, programs, photographs, and research materials, with interviews and research materials for Soares' book on Louis Horst, Louis Horst: Musician in a Dancer's World.
Soares' choreographic notes are not written in labanotation, and often contain description, diagrams, charts, and directions for specific company dancers. Some notes are unlabeled and can be found under "general," others are complete. Works represented include Arcade, Pomona, and Echoes, Anna Sokolow's piece, for which Soares was a rehearsal assistant.
The conference materials contain handouts and programs as well as papers which Soares gave at the many dance education conferences she attended during her career. There are contracts and letters of negotiation from her various employers. There is also a limited amount of correspondence, mostly congratulations on various performances or publications.
Photographs consist of images of Soares as a dancer, working as a choreographer, and documentation of specific works. There are personal pictures of conference gatherings and awards banquets. Programs document her work as a dancer as well as instances where she is credited for choreography - both in dance performances as well as theater.
Research materials hold Soares' research for her books on Martha Hill and Louis Horst. The Hill material consists of notes and photocopies of programs and other documents. The Horst material contains original interviews conducted by Soares as well as some notes and permissions letters.
Soares' teaching materials hold course notes, roll books, photographs, programs and other items from her years teaching at Barnard and Juilliard, as well as limited courses taught elsewhere including Columbia University and her work with the Dance Advance and Lincoln Center Student programs.
This collection contains audio recordings of Soares' interviews for her Louis Horst book and video recordings of several of her choreographic works, including Here's Looking at You, Blue Skies, and in time may go....
Inquiries regarding video materials in the collection may be directed to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. Audio/visual materials may be subject to preservation and migration prior to access.
Arrangement
Alphabetical by subject