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Creator
Foreman, Laura, 1936-2001
Call number
(S) *MGZMD 162
Physical description
27 linear feet (58 boxes)
Preferred Citation

Laura Foreman Papers, (S)*MGZMD 162. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library Performing Arts.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.

Laura Foreman was the director of dance at the New School. Her Laura Foreman Dance Theater performed extensively in the 1970s and her Composers and Choreographers Theater gave exposure to new and avant-garde choreographers. Collection includes choreography notes, scripts, correspondence and teaching material.

Biographical/historical information

Laura Foreman was born ca. 1937. She attended the University of Wisconsin in the late 1950s and moved to New York City in the mid-1960s.

Foreman taught at the New School in New York City, beginning her career ca. 1969 and retiring from active teaching in 1990. While at the New School she created the Laura Foreman Dance Theatre and The Composers & Choreographers Theater. Both residencies provided exposure for new and avant-garde choreographers and dancers. Her company performed regularly into the mid 1970s at the Cubiculo and the American Theater Lab.

One of Foreman's best-known pieces was her 1981 Wallwork, created with her husband, the composer John Watts. Wallwork, a conceptual event existed only in advertising posters and on a telephone reservation number, which grew very busy when a sold-out sign was placed on the posters.

After Watts' death in 1982, Foreman concentrated on writing and art. She began exhibiting sculpture in the 1980s. Her most famous piece was Birdhouse as Metaphor, which was at the Souyun Yi Gallery in SoHo in 1990. She won an award for her TimeCoded Woman I, II, III at the Houston International Film Festival. Foreman was also a published author. Her short stories were collected into a book. Foreman died in Manhattan on June 15, 2001.

Scope and arrangement

The Laura Foreman Papers span the years 1957-1999 and consist of correspondence, teaching notes, syllabi, workshop material, grant applications, choreographed dances with notes (about costumes, sound, and lighting).

The collection is important in its documentation of the development of several different dance programs and companies, including the Laura Foreman Dance Company, the Composers and Choreographers Theatre and the dance department at the New School.

The collection is mostly professional material. There is extremely limited personal material, which includes correspondence and snapshots.

The Laura Foreman papers are arranged in nine series:

  • Series I: Correspondence
    undated
    5 boxes

    This series consists of correspondence. The majority of the correspondence is professional. The personal correspondence is limited to several folders from Foreman's mother.

  • Series II: Channel 13
    undated
    2 boxes

    This series consists of material related to work that Foreman did with Channel 13 (WNYC-NY). Foreman's dances, visual art and screenplays for various shows produced by Channel 13 are included.

  • Series III: Choreographers and Composers Theatre
    undated
    3 boxes

    This series consists of material of the Composers and Choreographers Theatre, which was created by Laura Foreman and John Watts during their tenure at The New School. The majority of the material dates from the 1970s and 1980s.

  • Series IV: Laura Foreman Dance Company
    1955 - 1993, undated
    19 boxes

    This series consists of material from the Laura Foreman Dance Company. There are choreography notes, lighting, sound and costume ideas. Also included are notes of choreography problems solved.

  • Series V: The New School
    1968 - 1997
    15 boxes

    This series consists of material from Laura Foreman's tenure as the head of dance department at The New School in New York City. Included is course information, faculty information and student information.

  • Series VI: Non - Dance Material
    1970 - 1994
    5 boxes

    This series consists of material from Laura Foreman's non-dance related work. Included are scripts, teleplays, poems and other writings, in addition to gallery brochures, art proposals, projects and shows, film proposals and projects.

  • Series VII: Photographs
    1964 - 1979
    6 boxes

    This series consists of photographs, negatives and slides. The photographs are equally divided between programs from Composers and Choreographers Theatre and The New School. There are a limited number of personal photographs.

  • Series VIII: John Watts
    1968 - 1974
    1 box

    This series consists of material from John Watts. There is correspondence, early musical writings and limited material from his time with Composers and Choreographers Theater.

  • Series IX: Oversized Material
    1979
    2 boxes

    This series consists of oversized photographs, and posters. Some of the posters are in fragile condition.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

The Laura Foreman Papers were donated to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division in 1992 by Laura Foreman.

Processing information

Processed by Leslie Reyman; Machine-readable finding aid created by Leslie Reyman.

Separated material

Cassette tapes

  • Interview with Martin Tucker
  • Remarks about Mike Foreman
  • Room 510 Edward Villela 3/16/78
  • Violette Verdy, 3/30/87
  • 2/23/87 side 3
  • 2/23/87 side 1

Other

  • Button -Modern Dance Power
  • Patch - yellow weathervane
  • Records Dean Sanders, Pianist plays William Albright, Burrill Phillips, John Watts (2 copies)
  • 16mm film (ca. 800 ft) Secrets of the Deep

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

Conditions Governing Use

For permission to publish, contact the Curator, Jerome Robbins Dance Division.