Jan Van Dyke was one of the most prolific and
well-known faculty members in the UNCG Department of Dance. Van Dyke had a long
history with UNCG, beginning in 1989 when she received a doctorate in education.
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| Jan Van Dyke, ca. 1970s. |
Van Dyke donated her personal and professional
papers to the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University
Archives in 2014-2015. The papers were processed and made available to the
public in 2017. They afford a unique
glance into a life dedicated to dance.
The Jan Van Dyke Papers contain materials related
to Van Dyke's personal life and professional career as a dancer, teacher, and
administrator. The collection contains Van Dyke's choreography, correspondence,
faculty materials, teaching materials, photographs, newspaper clippings, and video
recordings. Van Dyke’s materials reach back to her earliest childhood years in
the 1940s and 1950s – from a child ration book to programs and photographs from
early dance recitals.
You can view the finding aid
here, which gives a detailed description of the contents of the collection.
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| Van Dyke (right) performing in a dance production, ca. 1950s. |
Van Dyke was born in Washington, D.C., on April 15,
1941, but spent much of her early youth in Germany. From an early age, much of
her energy was spent focused on dance. She attended high school in Virginia,
taking dance lessons at the Washington School of Ballet.
Van Dyke earned a bachelor's degree in dance from
the University of Wisconsin in 1963 and a master's degree in dance education
from George Washington University. Van Dyke’s student materials, including an
interesting essay on witchcraft, are included in the collection.
Most interesting, perhaps, are Van Dyke’s personal
letters – to family, friends, and romantic interests. In them, Van Dyke lays
out her own personal struggles to break into the dance world in New York City,
the Midwest, and Washington, D.C. She is amazingly frank and forthright in her
letters – expressing her feelings about the difficulties facing women in dance
in the 1970s, her personal challenges, and her intense joy for life.
Van Dyke's life history is documented
in her personal letters and extensive newspaper clippings, photographs, fliers,
programs, and video recordings. A large portion of the materials in her collection are related to various dance groups that Van Dyke
helped form, including the John Gamble/Jan Van Dyke Dance Group, Jan Van Dyke
and Dancers, and the Jan Van Dyke Dance Group. These materials include original choreography, general files, photographs, fliers, programs, video recordings, and other
ephemera.
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| First page of choreography for Van Dyke's "Spike," 1982. |
While all of Van Dyke’s career is documented, another substantial portion of her collection is comprised of materials related to her
time at UNCG.
During her time with the Department of Dance at
UNCG, she taught a variety of courses, including technique, choreography,
repertory, career management, and dance administration. In addition to
teaching, Van Dyke also worked as a producer, administrator, and artist. Her
choreography has been used by a variety of groups, ranging from the Washington
Ballet to students at the Western Australian Academy for the Performing Arts in
Perth.
Her work was supported by multiple outside
agencies, including the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the California
Arts Council, and the D.C. Commission on the Arts and the Humanities.
Van Dyke also founded and directed the dance
company Dance Project, which is responsible for the NC Dance Festival, Van Dyke
Dance Group, and School at City Arts.
Van Dyke received a North Carolina Choreography
Fellowship, and was a 1993 Fulbright Scholar. She has earned numerous accolades
in her field, including: North Carolina Choreography Fellowship, 1993 Fulbright
Scholar, North Carolina Dance Alliance Annual Award 2001, 2008 Dance Teacher
Award for Higher Education from Dance Teacher Magazine, and the
Betty Cone Medal of Arts Award in 2011. UNCG awarded Van Dyke the Gladys Strawn
Bullard Award for leadership and service in 2010.
Van Dyke's collection is important for researchers who are interested in studying the history of dance in the United States and North Carolina. Researchers may find Van Dyke's collection particularly interesting if studying the intersection of gender and dance in the 20th century. Van Dyke's own research, writing, and choreography often dealt with gender and dance, so the materials in her collection reflect her interest.
Finally, Van Dyke was a large part of the history of UNCG. Researchers who want to track the changes in dance studies at the University will certainly encounter names that are peppered throughout the collection - Van Dyke, Gamble, Stinson, and more. Van Dyke's collection is unique because it documents her time at UNCG -- as a student, adjunct professor, full professor, and department head.
Van Dyke passed away after a lengthy battle with cancer in July 2015.
