Title: Milwaukee Modern Dance Council Records
Inclusive Dates: 1960-1986

Creator:

• Milwaukee Modern Dance Council

Call Number: Milwaukee Mss 161

Quantity: 2.4 c.f. (7 archives boxes)

Repository:

Housed at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Libraries’ Archives Department / Milwaukee Area Research Center; owned by the Wisconsin Historical Society, Division of Library, Archives, and Museum Collections

Archival Locations:

COLLECTION MAY BE STORED OFF-SITE: see catalog entry to request materials and for additional information.

UW-Milwaukee Libraries, Archives / Milwaukee Area Research Ctr. (Map)

Abstract:

Records of a Milwaukee organization formed in 1960 by former students of University of Wisconsin dance education pioneer Margaret D'Houbler in order to encourage the appreciation and study of modern dance; the organization disbanded in 1986. Included are by-laws, minutes of monthly board meetings, correspondence, financial reports, publicity and the Dance Abouts newsletter, workshop and class information, scholarship records, and records of the Moving Company, a performing group established by MMDC.

Language: English

URL to cite for this finding aid: http://digital.library.wisc.edu/1711.dl/wiarchives.uw-whs-mil00161

The Milwaukee Modern Dance Council (MMDC), a non-profit organization, was founded in 1960 by five students (Virginia Weiler, Ginka Cohn, Ruth Kriehn, Jean Radmer, and Miriam Shelstead) who had graduated from the University of Wisconsin dance program under the tuteladge of Margaret H'Doubler. H'Doubler was the founder of the first four-year degree program in dance in the United States.

The council's mission was to 1) promote and further the appreciation of modern dance, 2) offer an opportunity to study modern dance, 3) support other community dance organizations, and 4) stimulate interest in artistic and creative dance as an art form in Milwaukee. At the time of its inception, MMDC was the only organization of its kind in Wisconsin.

The MMDC accomplished its mission by holding ongoing dance workshops and classes for adults and children, by promoting dance events through their monthly newsletter, Dance Abouts, and a dance directory, and by establishing a fund for dance education that awarded over twenty scholarships. In addition, in 1964 MMDC established an educational performing group which became known as the Moving Company in 1970.

Notable dancers and choreographers associated with MMDC as teachers included Susie Bauer, founder of the Bauer Dance Ensemble, and Ferne Caulker-Bronson, the founder of the Ko-Thi Dance Company. Caulker-Bronson was also the recipient of an MMDC college scholarship in 1968.

During the 1980s MMDC experienced problems due to lack of membership and finances. Having decided that the organization had served its purpose, MMDC members voted to disband in 1986.

The records of MMDC are arranged as ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS, WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES, SCHOLARSHIPS, and PERFORMING GROUP RECORDS.

The records document MMDC best from the mid-1960s through the 1970s, but are unfortunately weak about both the organization and dissolution of MMDC. For the documented period MMDC is well represented by the standard types of administrative records such as minutes, treasurers' reports, and membership lists. In addition, the MMDC newsletter, renamed Dance Abouts in 1978, provides an excellent look at the MMDC educational program and some coverage of the activities of other dance organizations in Milwaukee. Newspaper clippings also provide fairly comprehensive coverage of the organization at work in the community from 1960 to 1981. Together, these records provide a clear picture of the organization's activities, its members, its financial picture, and some documentation of its influence in the community. The collection is also strong in its documentation of the MMDC scholarship program, and there are records about most if not all of the individual scholarship recipients.

The ADMINISTRATIVE RECORDS include by-laws, descriptions of committee duties and functions, annual meeting and committee minutes and reports, and monthly board meeting minutes. The series is subdivided into Governance, Correspondence, Financial Records, Membership Records, and Publicity. The correspondence is sporadic and limited, providing much less useful information about the development of policy than can be found in the minutes and the newsletter. Because of their brevity, it is likely that much of the work of the organization was done in meetings or by telephone. The Financial records feature early ledgers (1960-1964) and monthly and annual reports. There are also budgets and grant applications.

The Membership Records are extensive, including lists of members and committees for all but a few years of the organization's history. There are also a few membership surveys. These records provide a glimpse of the membership and its changes in composition over time. The file also includes an undated director of Friends of Ballet, another Milwaukee dance organization.

The Publicity Records consist of five types of material: press releases, the Dance Abouts newsletter, flyers and brochures, photographs, and newspaper clippings. There are also brief records of a 1976 film festival, the 1978 directory of the Milwaukee dance community, and an illustrated 1981 calendar that was sold for fundraising purposes. Most of the publicity records relate to activities sponsored by MMDC, but some files also include material about activities of related local organizations. Of special interest among the newspaper clippings is a biographical article about Margaret H'Doubler, a file about MMDC teachers, and information on the sponsorship of a performance by the Ballet Hispanico and the Wisconsin Dance Council.

The WORKSHOPS AND CLASSES series includes promotional flyers; minutes of the programmatic committee; correspondence; teacher resumes and employment contracts; as well as information on registration and attendance, a grade school pilot project, a workshop for gifted children, a master class taught by Ann Koren in 1979, and information on the Girl Scouts dance badge.

The SCHOLARSHIP series contains minutes and annual reports of the Scholarship Committee, correspondence, and information on the high school festival that was a fundraiser organized by MMDC to support the scholarship program. Also included is information about the dance curricula at various Milwaukee area colleges. The majority of the series consists of applications which are subdivided into two categories. First is a file of general applications arranged by type and by date: second are applications of individuals. The first category includes information on the girls who participated in the High School Festival of Creative Dance who wished to attend a special two-week workshop at the University of Wisconsin. The records for 1968-1971 are supplemented by information on the scholarship auditions. This file indicates the names of the winners and the criteria used in awarding the scholarships. For the period 1972-1983, the applications for college scholarships are filed alphabetically.

The PERFORMING GROUP RECORDS consist of committee minutes, correspondence, information for performers, and publicity.

Acquisition Information

Presented by the MMDC via Glenna Shutkin, 1975-1986. Accession Number: M75-139, M86-360, M86-498

Processing Information

Processed by Ruta Abolins (Intern-1997) and Carolyn J. Mattern.

	Series: Administrative Records
	Governance
Box   1 Folder   1	By-laws, 1963-1985, undated
Box   1 Folder   2	Committee duties
Box   1 Folder   3-11	Monthly board meeting minutes, 1960-1986
Box   1 Folder   12	Annual meetings and reports, 1964-1986
Box   2 Folder   1-2	Correspondence, 1973-1986, undated
	Financial records
Box   2 Folder   3	Annual reports, 1966-1984
Box   2 Folder   4	Budgets, 1964-1984
Box   2 Folder   5	Grant applications, 1977, 1983
Box   2 Folder   6	Ledgers, 1960-1964
Box   2 Folder   7-11	Monthly reports, 1964-1966
	Membership records
	Lists
Box   2 Folder   12-13	1962-1976
Box   3 Folder   1-2	1977-1983, undated
Box   3 Folder   3	Surveys, 1969-1970, 1978
	Publicity
Box   3 Folder   3a	Ballet Hispanico
Box   3 Folder   4	Calendar, 1981
Box   3 Folder   5	Directory of the metropolitan dance community, 1978
Box   3 Folder   6	Flyers and brochures, 1976-1982
Box   3 Folder   7	McGehie, Helen, Film Festival, 1976
Box   3 Folder   8	Miscellaneous dance performances, classes, 1972-1985, undated
	News clippings
Box   3 Folder   9	MMDC, 1960-1981, undated
Box   3 Folder   10	MMDC teachers, 1977-1979
Box   3 Folder   11	Milwaukee dance in general, 1961-1982
Box   3 Folder   12-14	Newsletter (Dance Abouts)
Box   4	Photographs
Box   5 Folder   1-2	Press releases, 1970-1986, undated
Box   5 Folder   2a	Wisconsin Dance Council, 1968-1977
	Series: Workshops and Classes	⇧
Box   5 Folder   3	Committee meeting minutes, 1969-1971, undated
Box   5 Folder   4	Correspondence, 1976-1978
Box   5 Folder   5	Elementary school pilot project, 1972-1973
Box   5 Folder   6	Flyers, 1962-1979, undated
Box   5 Folder   7	Gifted children workshop, 1979
Box   5 Folder   8	Girl Scout badge qualifications
Box   5 Folder   9	Koren, Ann, Master class, 1979
Box   5 Folder   10-11	Registration and class lists, 1966-1979
Box   5 Folder   12	Teacher resumes and employment contracts
	Series: Scholarships	⇧
	General
Box   6 Folder   1-3	College scholarship applications, 1968-1971
	Committee files
Box   6 Folder   4	Annual reports, 1966-1976
Box   6 Folder   5	Correspondence, 1967-1983
Box   6 Folder   6	Dance curriculum information, 1967-1969, undated
Box   6 Folder   7	Festival for Creative Dance, 1966-1970
Box   6 Folder   8-12	High school classes conducted by MMDC
	Individual Scholarship applications, 1972-1983
Box   6 Folder   13-20	A-F
Box   7 Folder   1-18	G-W
	Series: Performing Group Records	⇧
Box   7 Folder   19	Committee minutes, 1964-1977, undated
Box   7 Folder   20	Correspondence, 1973-1985
Box   7 Folder   21	Dancers' information, 1972, undated
Box   7 Folder   22	Publicity, 1969-1976, undated