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Janice Ross Papers
004.006
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Title: Janice Ross Papers
Dates: 1974-2004
Collection Number: 004.006
Creator/Collector:
Ross, Janice
Extent: 26 Boxes. 26 linear feet.
Repository:
Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts Library
San Francisco, California 94124
Abstract: As of the March 2012, Janice Ross works at Stanford University as a Professor in the Drama Department and Director of the
Dance Division at Stanford University. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors from the University of California,
Berkeley. Following that, she received her Master of Arts degree in 1975 from Stanford University, from where she would later
receive her doctoral degree in 1998. She served President of the International Society of Dance History Scholars and a 2010-2011
Fulbright Fellow to Israel. A prolific writer and dance critic, Ross has also written three books on dance and published multiple
essays in various anthologies. She wrote for The Oakland Tribune for ten years as the staff dance critic and regularly contributed
to Dance Magazine. This collection documents her writing career from 1974 to 2004, including writings as a graduate student,
clippings and drafts of articles, reviews, and commentaries, as well as correspondence, programs, notes, photographs, and
other miscellaneous memorabilia.
Language of Material: English
Entire Collection is open for research.
Reproduction of these materials can occur only if the copying falls within the provisions of the doctrine of fair use. Copyright
varies by item.
[Identification of item]. Janice Ross Papers. Collection Number: 004.006. Museum of Performance and Design, Performing Arts
Library
The Janice Ross Papers were donated to the Museum of Performance and Design by Janice Ross in 2004.
Biography/Administrative History
As of the March 2012, Janice Ross works at Stanford University as a Professor in the Drama Department and Director of the
Dance Division at Stanford University. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors from the University of California,
Berkeley. Following that, she received her Master of Arts degree in 1975 from Stanford University, from where she would later
receive her doctoral degree in 1998. Ross's other accolades and awards consist of a Guggenheim Fellowship, two Stanford Humanities
Center Fellowships, Jacobs' Pillow Research Fellowship, as well as research grants from the Iris Litt Fund of the Clayman
Institute for Research on Women and Gender, the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture and the Djerassi Resident Artists Program.
She served President of the International Society of Dance History Scholars and a 2010-2011 Fulbright Fellow to Israel. A
prolific writer and dance critic, Ross has written three books, Anna Halprin: Experience as Dance (University of California
Press, 2007), winner of a de la Torre Bueno Award 2008 Special Citation, San Francisco Ballet at 75 (Chronicle Books, 2007)
and Moving Lessons: The Beginning of Dance in American Education, (University of Wisconsin, 2001), published essays on dance
in multiple anthologies such as Dignity in Motion: Dance, Human Rights and Social Justice, edited by Naomi Jackson (Scarecrow
Press, 2008), Perspectives on Israeli and Jewish Dance, edited by Judith Brin Ingber, (Wayne State University Press, 2008),
for The San Francisco Tape Music Center: 1960s Counter-culture and the Avant-Garde, Performance and Ritual, edited by Mark
Franco (Routledge 2007), Everything Was Possible (Re) Inventing Dance in the 1960s, edited by Sally Banes (University of Wisconsin
Press, 2003), "Improvisation as Child's Play," in Caught by Surprise: Essays on Art and Improvisation, edited by Ann Cooper
Albright and David Gere (Wesleyan University Press, 2003). She wrote for The Oakland Tribune for ten years as the staff dance
critic and regularly contributed to Dance Magazine. Other publications featuring Ross's writings include The New York Times
and The Los Angeles Times among several others.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Janice Ross Papers document the writing career of Janice Ross from 1974 to when the collection was donated to the Museum
in 2004. The collection includes her writings as a graduate student at Stanford University, clippings and drafts of articles,
reviews, and commentaries. The collection has been organized into two series ( Professional Writings, Subject Files, and Research
and Academic Writing, Personal Notes, Clippings). The first series, Professional Writings, Subject Files, and Research, comprises
the bulk of the collection. This series contains materials related to specific topics, individuals, companies, and organizations
of interest to and written about by Ross. While multiple forms of performing arts are covered in this series, there is a specific
focus on dance. As a result of the depth of this series, this collection is a valuable resource to track the history of dance
and dance performance in the San Francisco Bay Area. Specific companies that are covered in here in great detail include American
Ballet Theater, Joe Goode Performance Group, Joffrey Ballet, Margaret Jenkins Dance Company, New York City Ballet, Oakland
Ballet Company, and San Francisco Ballet, among several others. As Ross is primarily based in San Francisco Bay Area, several
of her writings consist of when artists and/or companies visited the area, but there are several articles and research materials
included from performances elsewhere. Subject files may include any combination of correspondence, clippings, programs, handwritten
notes, drafts, photographs, programs, and other related documents. To maintain original order, this series is arranged in
alphabetical order by last name of individual, name of institution, or subject heading as appropriate. The second series,
Academic Writing, Personal Notes, Clippings consists of Ross's writings from her Ross's studies at Stanford University, notes
for her books, clippings of her writings from The Oakland Tribune. Overall, her writings are arranged in alphabetical order
and the clippings from The Oakland Tribune in chronological order.
Dance
Modern Dance
Goode, Joe
Ross, Janice
American Ballet Theatre.
Joe Goode Performance Group
Joffrey Ballet of Chicago.
Margaret Jenkins Dance Company.
New York City Ballet.
Oakland Ballet Company.
Oberlin Dance Collective
San Francisco Ballet Association (San Francisco, Calif.).
San Jose Cleveland Ballet.