Prototyping an Extensible Framework for Access to Dance Knowledge

FAIN: HAA-277185-21

University of Alabama (Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0001)
Rebecca Salzer (Project Director: June 2020 to present)
Gesel Mason (Co Project Director: October 2020 to present)

The creation of an online resource to increase accessibility to recordings of works by Black choreographers along with tools to make it easier to study dance by providing the ability to search and create connections across collections.

In keeping with the values of “experimentation, reuse, and extensibility,” this Level II proposal, titled “Dancing Digital,” leverages artist/scholar Gesel Mason’s existing collection No Boundaries: Dancing the Visions of Contemporary Black Choreographers and the open-source software CollectiveAccess to create a working prototype for an online resource that 1) provides online access to important full-length recordings of works by historically-underrepresented Black choreographers, 2) models how to imaginatively combine these full length recordings of dance with innovative features and supporting materials that enrich dance study across humanities disciplines, 3) creates a scalable, open-source, digital framework that broadens the focus from one choreographer’s work to the possibility of an interconnected field-wide archive, and 4) documents and shares the process, constructing a road map for other artists and organizations seeking to provide access to their collections.

Media Coverage

UT Austin Associate Professor of Dance Gesel Mason Awarded NEH Grant For Digital Archiving Project to Document Work of Black Choreographers (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Alicia Dietrich
Publication: University of Texas at Austin Theatre College of Fine Arts
Date: 1/27/2021
Abstract: A press release announcing Gesel Mason's receipt of the award.
URL: https://theatredance.utexas.edu/news/ut-austin-associate-professor-dance-gesel-mason-awarded-neh-grant-digital-archiving-project-0

UA Professor Receives Prestigious Grant to Create Digital Dance Archive (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Sarah Beth Bolin
Publication: College of Arts and Sciences Desktop News
Date: 2/9/2021
Abstract: An announcement of the grant award to Rebecca Salzer.
URL: https://as.ua.edu/2021/02/09/ua-professor-receives-prestigious-grant-to-create-digital-dance-archive/

Gesel Mason Awarded Major NEH Grant for Digital Archiving Project to Preserve Work of Black Choreographers (Media Coverage)
Author(s): Jeanne Claire van Ryzin
Publication: Sightlines: Arts, Culture, News & Ideas
Date: 1/27/2021
URL: https://sightlinesmag.org/gesel-mason-awarded-major-neh-grant-for-digital-archiving-project-to-preserve-work-of-black-choreographers