National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame

The National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame, in the Saratoga Spa State Park, Saratoga, New York, was established in 1986 and is the only museum in the nation dedicated entirely to dance. It contains photographs, videos, artifacts, costumes and biographies. The museum is located in the former Washington Bath House and was founded in 1986 by Marylou Whitney. It is related to the Saratoga Performing Arts Center and also provides dance classes and master classes through the Lewis A. Swyer School for the Arts, which hosts the New York State Summer School of the Arts during the months of July and August.

Mission statement

The mission of the NMD is to cultivate, promote, foster and develop amongst its members and the community at large, the appreciation, understanding, taste and love of dance and its history, and to provide the means for popular instruction and enjoyment thereof; to collect, classify, preserve and protect records, articles and subjects of historic interest; to select, annually, one or more individuals, corporations, dance companies, associations or other institutions as honorees to be named in the National Museum of Dance Hall of Fame.

The Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame

The Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame collection was provided to the Museum in 1987. The Hall of Fame annually inducts one individual from the dance world.

Inductees

Below is the list of the inductees into the Hall of Fame of the National Museum of Dance (United States).

Fred Astaire (1899–1987) | inducted 1987

George Balanchine (1904–1983) | inducted 1987

Agnes deMille (1905–1993) | inducted 1987

Isadora Duncan (1887–1927) | inducted 1987

Katherine Dunham (1909–2006) | inducted 1987

Martha Graham (1894–1991) | inducted 1987

Doris Humphrey (1895–1958) | inducted 1987

Lincoln Kirstein (1907–1996) | inducted 1987

Catherine Littlefield (1905–1951) | inducted 1987

Bill "Bojangles" Robinson (1878–1949) | inducted 1987

Ruth St. Denis (1877–1968) | inducted 1987

Ted Shawn (1891–1972) | inducted 1987

Charles Weidman (1901–1975) | inducted 1987

Busby Berkeley (1895–1976) | inducted 1988

Lucia Chase (1897–1986) | inducted 1988

Hanya Holm (1898–1992) | inducted 1988

John Martin (1893–1992) | inducted 1988

Antony Tudor (1908–1987) | inducted 1988

Jerome Robbins (1918–1998) | inducted 1989

Alvin Ailey (1931–1989) | inducted 1992

Merce Cunningham (1919–2009) | inducted 1993

Bronislava Nijinska (1891–1972) | inducted 1994

Paul Taylor (1930-) | inducted 1995

José Limón (1908–1972) | inducted 1997

Anna Sokolow (1910–2000) | inducted 1998

Barbara Karinska (1886–1983) | inducted 1999

Arthur Mitchell (1934-) | inducted 1999

Robert Joffrey (1930–1988) | inducted 2000

Trisha Brown (1936-) | inducted 2000

Alwin Nikolais (1910–1993) | inducted 2000

Nicholas Brothers (1914–2006 & 1921–2000) | inducted 2001

Leonide Massine (1896–1979) | inducted 2002

Edwin Denby (1903–1983) | inducted 2002

Igor Stravinsky (1882–1971) | inducted 2004

Arthur and Kathryn Murray | inducted 2006

The New Dance Group 1932 | inducted 2006

Bob Fosse (1927–1987) | inducted 2007

Bill T. Jones (1952-) | inducted 2007

Peter Martins (1946-) | inducted 2008

Tommy Tune (1939-) | inducted 2009

Marge Champion (1919–) | inducted 2009

Suzanne Farrell (1945-) | inducted 2009

Edward Villella (1936-) | inducted 2009

Frankie Manning (1914–2009) | inducted 2009

Michael Jackson (1958–2009) | inducted 2010

See also

Dance portal

• Swing Dance Hall of Fame
• Dance Music Hall of Fame

External links

• National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame
• NY Times article by James Howard Kunstler, June 12, 1988
• Times Union article by Joseph Dalton, May 2, 2010