Contributing to the Archive
The Archive welcomes contributions from all members of the Duncan community. We have listed a number of acceptable formats below for materials we commonly receive. If you have something you wish to contribute that does not fit these guidelines, please contact us for help.
What we accept
Repertory
We welcome contributions to our Repertory section from Duncan practitioners, teachers, and scholars. We are missing descriptions and background information for a number of dances and class exercises. Many Duncan teachers prepare written material for their students when teaching Duncan works; we encourage teachers to contribute these materials to the Archive.
We want to be inclusive of all Duncan lineages: If you have been taught any dances differently than is described on the Archive, we would welcome a description of the dance as you learned it, with a note about who you learned it from.
Collections and Memorabilia
The Archive would be pleased to display any Duncan photos, drawings, programs, or memorabilia that you have to offer. Photos are best submitted in jpg or tif format, but we can work with other formats as well. Scanning documents for submission are best done at 300 dpi or higher for good resolution.
Videos
The Archive welcomes videos of Duncan choreographies as danced by Duncan practitioners. We accept many different types of videos, including isolated dances or suites, full performances or rehearsals, and montages of performance excerpts. Full performances can contain non-Duncan choreographies, but should be primarily Duncan works. Please be ready to identify all the dancers in the video and provide the date of the event.
Technical Guidelines
How to send us digital materials
We can accept digital materials through several means. The easiest way is for you to simply upload your files to a sharing service such as Dropbox, and to send us the link. If your files are small and you would prefer to attach them to an email, you can email us at info@isadoraduncanarchive.org.
Digital formats we accept
- We can accept videos in most digital formats, including mp4, mov, avi, flv, wmv, and mpg.
- If you have already uploaded the video to YouTube or vimeo, you can simply send us the link.
- JPG format is preferred for photos, but you can also send us tif, png, or gif files. We can extract photos from PDFs if necessary but we prefer if you send us the photo directly.
- For written materials such as articles or programs, pdf, jpg, or png formats are preferred.
Physical materials
We can accept DVDs or CDs by mail (please contact us for a mailing address), but unfortunately we can't convert VHS tapes at this time. If you have other non-digital materials you wish to contribute, please contact us to discuss the process.