Today Coventry University and Siobhan Davies Dance have launched the UK’s First Digital Dance Archive thanks to funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
This two year project has been led by researchers from the Centre for Media Arts and Performance at Coventry University in collaboration with Siobhan Davies Dance to create an extensive archive of work from one of the UK’s most prominent contemporary choreographers. This was funded by the AHRC as one of the last Resource Enhancement Schemes.
The archive is freely accessible to students, researchers and dance enthusiasts via an attractive and interactive website that provides a simple overview of the contents and thorough search options. It enables users to generate their own ‘scrapbook’ of images and text-based materials to support research, study or for general interest.
The archive represents the history of the choreographer’s work, and features material dating from 1977, when she created Sphinx for London Contemporary Dance Theatre. The archive will contain full length films and over 2000 fully searchable electronic records of moving image, still images and text relating to 36 dance works and seven related projects.
“This first digital archive for dance in the UK is a huge achievement for both my organisation and CMAP at Coventry University. Dance performances thrive on being seen in the moment of their doing but there will now be a wealth of knowledge that can be easily accessed through my, and I hope the many future, dance archives. This will lead to a fuller understanding of the many models of thinking and practice which underpin this extraordinary art form.” Siobhan Davies
Siobhan Davies is one of Britain’s most celebrated choreographers and in 2002 she was awarded a CBE in the New Year’s Honours. She was a leading dancer and choreographer for London Contemporary Dance Theatre in the 1970s, and in 1981 she collaborated with other leading choreographers to form Second Stride, and continued on to form Siobhan Davies Dance in 1988
To view the Siobhan Davies Archive, go to: www.siobhandaviesarchive.com
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AHRC Media contact: Jake Gilmore, Communications Manager, 0117 9876 773
The Siobhan Davies Archive project began in January 2007, with the aim of bringing together all of the materials and documentation associated with Davies' choreographies into a single collection. It is the first online dance archive in the UK and contains thousands of fully searchable digital records including moving image, still image, audio and text. Many of the objects within the archive collection have been sourced directly from Davies and her collaborators' personal collections, whilst other items have been kindly lent by institutions and private contributors. Almost all of these objects that would otherwise remain inaccessible and unavailable appear online for the first time, and in many cases represent the first time objects have been viewed by anyone since their original date of creation. The archive has been made possible by funding from the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC).
About Arts and Humanities Research Council- Each year the AHRC provides approximately £102 million from the Government to support research and postgraduate study in the arts and humanities, from languages and law, archaeology and English literature to design and creative and performing arts. In any one year, the AHRC makes approximately 700 research awards and around 1,350 postgraduate awards. Awards are made after a rigorous peer review process, to ensure that only applications of the highest quality are funded. Arts and humanities researchers constitute over a quarter of all research-active staff in the higher education sector. The quality and range of research supported by this investment of public funds not only provides social and cultural benefits but also contributes to the economic success of the UK.