Costume & Dance Historian
In 2018 I undertook a Research Fellowship in the archives of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, Massachusetts. My project was to catalogue and rehouse the extensive Jacob's Pillow costume collection, still in the original travelling trunks. The History of the Collection The origin of the Costume Collection falls into two categories; those costumes kept by Ted… Continue reading Cataloguing the Jacob’s Pillow costume collection
I have long been fascinated with the Ballets Russes USA tours in 1916 and 1917. In 2018 I researched the week the company spent in Texas for the publication Arts and Culture Texas. The following article is reproduced with permission from Arts and Culture Texas. In early December 1916 Vaslav Nijinsky, the greatest dancer alive,… Continue reading The week Vaslav Nijinsky spent in Texas
Last week I created a guide to some of my favourite online dance resources. This week I thought I would share my favourite Ballets Russes costume resources. Museums and archives are slowly making more and more of their collections available online but sometimes these are hard to find and navigate - happy lock-down researching! 1.… Continue reading A Guide to online Ballets Russes Costume Resources
One of the things I love most about my job is a huge range of archives and libraries I get to visit, however during the current pandemic institutions are closed, and all in person research has become impossible. So instead museums, archives and libraries are turning to their digital collections to engage with audiences and… Continue reading A Guide to online Dance History Resources
Anna Pavlova dressed in her costume for The Swan, photographed by the pond at her London home of Ivy House. Copyright MOL. Early last month, barely a week before the world shut down and I was destined to be a quarantined historian rather than a travelling one, I visited the exhibition Ballerina: Fashion's Modern Muse… Continue reading A tutu or three … The Mystery of Anna Pavlova’s Dying Swan costume
This blog really should be re-named 'Adventures of a quarantined historian'. I am currently in self-isolation in Boston and won't be doing much travelling anytime soon. So instead I have decided to re-visit my past research adventures and share them weekly. I hope you enjoy this first instalment. I grew up wishing I lived in… Continue reading Adventures at West Dean
Welcome to my newly relaunched blog and website! Almost exactly 10 years ago I packed my suitcase and got on a plane to Winnipeg, Canada (in the depths of winter I should add) to start a costume traineeship with The Royal Winnipeg Ballet. Since I was a teenager I had wanted to become a costume… Continue reading Adventures of a Travelling Historian
