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Dance Research at the Library of Congress

Motion Picture, Broadcasting & Recorded Sound Division

Opera singer Luisa Tetrazzini with motion picture camera. Circa 1915-1920. Bain News Service Photograph Collection. Library of Congress Prints & Photographs Division.

The Moving Picture, Broadcasting, and Recorded Sound Division (MBRS) is the custodial division for audio/visual collection material. For more information about dance moving image materials in the custody of MBRS, contact the reference specialists of the Moving Image Research Center. For more information about dance sound recordings, contact the reference specialists of the Recorded Sound Research Center. These reference specialists can assist with the location of dance-related materials that are original to their collections in addition to custodial transfers. Custodial transfers to MBRS are materials that belong to Music Division special collections, but are better preserved and accessed with special audio/visual equipment.


Music Division finding aids and catalog records for special collections indicate transfers of audio-visual materials to MBRS.

  • In online finding aids, select the tab "Using This Collection." Under the heading "Administrative History," the subheading "Transfers" will contain any information.
  • In online catalog records, transfer information appears next to the heading "Notes."

To aid dance researchers, the selected list below contains audio-visual transfers of note from Music Division special collections. MAVIS collection numbers indicate how researchers can request items in the respective reading rooms.

Selected List of A/V Transfers from the Music Division

  • Alvin Ailey Dance Foundation collection | MAVIS collection nos. 13462 (sound) & 14356 (moving image)
  • American Ballet Theatre archive | MAVIS collection no. 15495
  • Armgard von Bardeleben papers | MAVIS collection no. 14584
  • Edward Beach collection | MAVIS collection no. 12749
  • Leonard Bernstein collection | MAVIS collection no. 2511
  • Franziska Boas collection | MAVIS collection no. 3275
  • Peggy Clark papers | MAVIS collection no. 14050
  • Miriam Cole papers | MAVIS collection no. 14401
  • Elizabeth Sprague Coolidge Foundation collection | MAVIS collection no. 1432
  • Aaron Copland collection | MAVIS collection no. 9416
  • Alexandra Danilova collection | MAVIS collection no. 3174
  • Katherine Dunham collection | MAVIS collection no. 12337
  • Robert Ellis Dunn papers | MAVIS collection no. 14618
  • Bob Fosse-Gwen Verdon collection | MAVIS collection no. 4690
  • Martha Graham collection | MAVIS collection no. 3931
  • Lester Horton Dance Theater collection | MAVIS collection no. 3372 
  • Pearl Lang papers | MAVIS collection no. 14778
  • Lewett / ARTtv Moving Image collection | MAVIS collection no. 14967
  • Helen McGehee and Umaña ollection of dance materials | MAVIS collection no. 13532
  • Daniel Nagrin collection | MAVIS collection no. 14467
  • Bronislava Nijinska collection | MAVIS collection no. 8976
  • Pola Nirenska collection | MAVIS collection no. 150
  • Larry Warren collection on Anna Sokolow and Lester Horton | MAVIS collection no. 14522