Records of the TCU Department of Ballet and Modern Dance

Scrapbooks, photographs, negatives, TCU and non-TCU ballet programs, dance magazines, dance step books, posters, and TCU performance videotapes from 1914-1996 document the TCU Department of Ballet and Modern Dance. The collection is divided into five series: I. Scrapbooks, 1950-1982; II. Photographs, 1950-1984; III. Printed Material, 1914-1996; IV. Fort Worth Ballet Association Material, 1960-1972; V. Ballet Videotapes, 1950-1964.

The first series, Scrapbooks, 1950-1982, includes scrapbooks made by the Ballet and Modern Dance department. The books include pictures, newspaper clippings, dance programs, and letters documenting the department’s achievements and performances.

Photographs, 1950-1984, include images of practices, performances, and individual dancers and faculty of the department. Negatives of dance photos for the press are also a part of the series.

The next series, Printed Material, 1914-1996, contains TCU dance programs, oversized promotional posters, and pictures from the 1950s to the 1980s. Non-TCU material includes playbills from world-wide ballet conservatories and one box of dance magazines from the 1920s to the 1980s. Of particular interest are four dancing step books: Manual of Dancing Steps (1914), Congregational Dancing in Christian Workshop (1972), Folk Dance Notebook (1973), and Matthias the Painter (undated).

Fort Worth Ballet Association Material, 1960-1972, has some of the association’s financial records, meeting minutes, letters, brochures, and press releases. The series has a folder of detailed publication material for TCU’s Coppélia performance in 1967.

The last series, Ballet Videotapes, 1950-1964, only includes three VHS tapes of the dance department’s earliest performances.