Scope and arrangement
The Sally Gross papers date from 1959 to 2015 and document Gross's professional life as a dancer, choreographer, and teacher. The collection contains files on performance events, journals, notes, clippings, files on associates, photographs, promotional material, grant applications, correspondence, teaching files, reference material, and travel records.
The largest portion of the collection relates directly to Gross's performances. The Performances files span Gross's career and are arranged chronologically, with titles or venue names occasionally noted. Photographs document performances almost exclusively, with some rehearsals also included. Clippings primarily consist of reviews of dance performances. Evidence of Gross's creative process, including choreographic drawings and diagrams, can be seen throughout the Journals. Promotional material, including posters and press releases, focuses primarily upon performances. A few artifacts created during performances are also present.
Gross was a keen observer of her peers. The Associates files represent the professional output of performers, visual artists, writers, musicians, and academics she knew personally. Many of Gross's influences and collaborators can be found here, including Blu, John Cage, Carla Blank, Robert Frank, Robert Dunn, Phyllis Lamhut, Meredith Monk, Spencer Holst, Patsy Norvell, and Yvonne Rainer. Other notable associates include Christian Jankowski, Steve Paxton, and Pat Cremins. These files typically include exhibition catalogs, invitations, and flyers. A few of these files contain correspondence.
Substantial documentation of Gross's pursuit of grants, fellowships and artists' residencies is also present. These files hold background materials, such as artists' statements; copies of completed application forms; and related correspondence for grants from the National Endowment for the Arts; the New York Foundation for the Arts; the Tanne Foundation; Guggenheim Fellowships; and the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council.
Files on Gross's teaching career are plentiful as demonstrated through notebooks, and loose pages containing student lists, class agendas, research material, and choreographical diagrams. This material relates to classes and workshops Gross taught in her Westbeth studio, at Fordham University, CUNY Kingsborough, and at residencies around the country and the world. Files on Gross's teaching fellowship in Japan are found here.
Gross kept Reference files on various areas of interest and study. Spiritual practices, the human body, and literature are frequent themes, with files on Buddhism, yoga, Tai Chi, anatomy, Samuel Beckett, and poetry.
Gross's trips to Bali, Vietnam, Israel, Europe, and various cities around the United States are documented in the Travel section. Files on her artist residencies at Yaddo and Djerassi are included.
A significant portion of the collection consists of sound and motion picture recordings documenting performances, rehearsals, and workshops, which are unavailable pending digitization.
Almost no records relating to Gross's childhood or family are included in the collection.
Arrangement
The collection is arranged alphabetically by file title, subject, or format.