June 11, 1938
I take pleasure in enclosing an informal catalogue of our current exhibition of Designs for Costumes and Settings for the Dance. I hope you will have the
opportunity to cover this exhibition.
The Workshop mentioned at the end of the catalogue is producing very interesting results and is of course a novelty in museum exhibition technique.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1937 - 1939. 07-08_1938, 119. View Original
June 9, 1938
The Brooklyn Museum will open tomorrow an exhibition of Designs for Costumes and Settings for the Dance to remain on view through September 18th.
The exhibition has an introductory section, showing by means of small illuminated models set in miniature theatres, the historical development of settings for the dance. Important historic costumes are shown by means of rare prints from the collections of Miss Marion Hannah Winter and Mr. Lincoln Kirstein. Contemporary stage lighting is especially featured with an installation by the Display Lighting Company playing on plastic forms such as are used in modern stage settings and on a costumed mannequin of a dancer. Also by designs for lighting by the Yale University Theater and by William Ewart Matthews, who was formerly director of the experimental theater at Wesleyan University.
Sections of the exhibition are devoted to costumes, costume plates, designs for stage settings, larger illuminated models and photographs. These exhibits represent the work of the Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey-Charles Weidman, Hanva Holm, Tamiris, Ballet Caravan, America Ballet, Federal Theater and Theater Dance Companies. Designs for dance costumes and sets are further represented by illustrated books and dance and theater magazines. Folk costumes influential in inspiring the design of dance costumes are shown by plates from the Museum Library.
An unusual feature of the exhibition is a design workshop where visitors to the exhibition can make sketches and models. Space is provided for the immediate exhibition of drawings selected from those made by visitors, and a row of seven illuminated miniature stages is placed to exhibit models made by visitors.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1937 - 1939. 05-06_1938, 097. View Original
September 18, 1938
This week end is the last opportunity to see the Exhibition of Costumes and Settings for the Dance at the Brooklyn Museum which has been extended on account of popular interest. The exhibition will close on Monday. It represents the historical background of the subject and the chief contemporary New York dance companies.
Brooklyn Museum Archives. Records of the Department of Public Information. Press releases, 1937 - 1939. 09-10_1938, 142. View Original
