Collection number: MC 293
Size:
(7 boxes )
(3.33 cu.ft.)
About Marianne Taylor (1930-2008)
Marianne Taylor (1930-2008) was a dance leader, caller, and contra dance pianist from New England. She taught English, Scottish, contra, and international folk dance styles beginning with her 1951 graduation from Boston University with a B.S. in physical education and dance. She was heavily involved in the Folk Arts Center of New England, which she co-founded in 1975, the Strathspay and Reel Society of New Hampshire (co-founded 1988), the Ralph Page Dance Legacy Weekend (committee member 1995-2008), and the New Hampshire State Council for the Arts, through which she taught dance to school children for many years. In Seacoast New Hampshire, she organized and often called for the Deerfield, New Hampshire contra dance (founded 1991), and played piano for the Lamprey River Band at the monthly Dover NH city hall dances. She was also a member of the Scottish dance band Tullochgorum, and appeared as backup on several Scottish dance music recordings.
Marianne was a frequent teacher at Pinewoods Dance Camp in both international and Scottish country dance styles. She became a certified teacher in the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society in 1957, was added to its Scroll of Honour in 2005, and served as the Artistic Director of the Boston Branch Royal Scottish Country Dance Demonstration team for 25 years. Other awards included: Boston Dance Alliance’s 2007 Dance Champion Award, National Folk Organization’s 2008 Preserving Our Heritage Award, and the devoted friendship of the hundreds of dancers and musicians she mentored throughout her career.
About the Marianne Taylor Papers (1966-2009)
This collection consists of a very small amount of personal correspondence, photographs (possibly of the Stockton Folk Dance Camp during the 1980s), and music/dance materials for and by Marianne. There is a large amount of material related to the activities of the Folk Arts Center of New England, New Hampshire Strathspay and Reel Society, Royal Scottish Dance Society of Boston, and syllabi from the Stockton Folk Dance Camp. Other international dance syllabi, some written music and dance notation, and a box of handwritten music from Jean Carmichael are included. One small folder relates to the Deerfield NH contra dance, which Marianne ran for many years.
Administrative Information
Access Restrictions
This collection is open.
Copyright Notice
Contents of this collection are governed by U.S. copyright law. For questions about publication or reproduction rights, contact Special Collections staff.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], [Folder], [Box], Marianne Taylor Papers, 1966-2009, MC 293, Milne Special Collections and Archives, University of New Hampshire Library, Durham, NH, USA.
Acquisitions Information
Gift of the creator and her estate in several acquisitions, 1996-2016
Separated Material
Ca. 1 cubic foot of Scottish dance booklets were transferred to the cataloged dance collection
RPDLW Syllabi, for the years 1990-1998 and 2001-2007
Approx. 1.3 cubic feet of loose photocopied sheet music from various Scottish dance and International Folk dance balls, dances, camps, workshops, etc.
Collection Arrangement
Collection is roughly divided by topic of materials. Original order was not discernable.
Collection Contents
| Box 1 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Personal Papers and Teaching, 1960-2008
This box contains a very small amount of correspondence, ca. 50 photographs (possibly of Stockton University’s Pacific Folk Dance Camp), a folder of dances and tunes written by or in honor of Marianne, and materials related to her Scottish, English, and international folk dance teaching. Included also is a folder of obituaries. | ||
| Box 2 | ||
| Folk Arts Center of New England (FAC), 1990-2007
The Folk Arts Center of New England was co-founded in 1975 by Marianne Taylor and Connie Taylor. This box contains organizational documents, English-Scottish program committee minutes, English-Scottish camps hosted by the FAC at Pinewoods Dance Camp, leadership weekend materials, and a small amount of international folk dance materials. | ||
| Box 3 | ||
| Scottish Dance Materials, 1980-2009
Marianne helped start the Strathspey and Reel Society of New Hampshire (SRSNH) in 1991, as well as being involved in the Royal Scottish Country Dance Society (RSCDS) in Boston and beyond. A small amount of SRSNH organizational bylaws and dance programs are included, as well as RSCDS/Pinewood Dance Camp programs, International Scottish Country Dance Society (ISCDS), and a few other miscellaneous programs. | ||
| Box 4 | ||
| Scottish Dance and Pacific Folk Dance Camp, 1966-2005
The Scottish dance material consists of dance notation from Hugh Foss, John Drewry, and Mary Isdale McNab, as well as one folder from Glenndaroch Scottish Country Dancers in Scotland. The Pacific Folk Dance Camp syllabi date from 1984-85, 1992, 1999, and 2005. | ||
| Box 5 | ||
| International Folk Dance Syllabi, 1985-2006
Syllabi from the Folk Arts Center of New England’s workshops/camps at Pinewoods Dance Camp, and scattered syllabi from international folk dance camps in the rest of the country. One syllabus is from the teaching of George Fogg. | ||
| Box 6 | ||
| Jean Carmichael Sheet Music, undated.
Jean Carmichael (1890-1966) was a Scottish dance teacher and mathematician and retired in 1960 from her career in space rocketry at the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory in Cambridge. She emigrated from Scotland in 1923 and settled in Boston, where she helped found the RSCDS-Boston and was also involved in NEFFA and the Country Dance Society. This box contains two folders of her handwritten sheet music in Scottish and New England music styles. There is also a First Newport Folk Festival program from Marianne Taylor, the last page of which describes the RSCDS demo team dancing at the Folk Festival. | ||
| Box 7 | ||
| Scottish Country Dance Music Notation
Several binders of sheet music: Leaves of Cabbage III (see catalog for nos. I and II), and the Strathspey and Reel Society of New Hampshire (SRSNH) music binders for the years 1998 and 1999. Each sheet is labeled with an SRSNH consisting of 3-4 digits; this number indicates the original order within each binder. Two small dance notation pamphlets are also included. | ||
