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Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company records

 Collection
Identifier: MS2030

Collection Scope and Content

The Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co., formerly the Moving Forward Contemporary Asian American Dance Company records consists of material dating from 1988 to 2023, which covers the emergence and rise of Dana Tai Soon Burgess and the Moving Forward Contemporary Asian American Dance Company in the Washington, DC performing arts community. Included in the collection are performance files, administrative files, audiovisual material, such as photographs and videocassettes, oversize material, and Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance company website

The Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co. and Moving Forward Contemporary Asian American Dance Company Records are part of the Dance Archives of the Greater Washington Region. The Archives was established in 1993 by Nancy Diers Johnson, Ed.D., Associate Professor of Dance, and the Gelman Library of the George Washington University. The Dance Archives of the Greater Washington Region collects, preserves and makes accessible the documentary heritage of all forms and types of dance.

Dates

  • 1988-2023

Creator

Restrictions on Access

Some records may be restricted.

Restrictions on Use

Some material may be copyrighted or restricted. It is the patron's obligation to determine and satisfy copyright or other case restrictions when publishing or otherwise distributing materials found in the collections.

Biographical Note

Dana Tai Soon Burgess was born in Carmel, CA to artist parents Joseph and Anna. While Dana was still a young child, the Burgesses moved to Santa Fe, NM, where he was first introduced to dance at the age of 16. In 1985, Dana graduated from Santa Fe High School and moved to Albuquerque, NM, where he studied dance and Asian history at the University of New Mexico. After finishing college in 1990, Dana moved to Washington, DC and began auditioning and performing in the metropolitan area. In 1991 he founded Moving Forward Contemporary Asian American Dance Company as a way to explore issues concerning Asian American identity. Dana also began organizing a summer program for young Asian American dancers called Moving Forward Asian American Youth Dance Program. He enrolled in the George Washington University, where he earned a Masters in Fine Arts in 1994. In 2005, the company name became Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co.

Dana Tai Soon Burgess has performed with a wide variety of dancers at venues across the world, and taught hundreds of students. He trained with Tim Wengerd, Bill Evens, and Jill Wantanabe. He has received grants from the DC Commission for the Arts and Humanities, and the DC Community Humanities Council. Additionally he has received corporate sponsorships from Anheuser Busch, the Meyer Foundation, and AT&T. His work has been performed in numerous venues, including Dance Place, the Corcoran Gallery of Art, the Kennedy Center; as well as La Mama, the United Nations and the Lincoln Center Out of Doors in New York. He has taught at the Kirov Academy in DC, the Hamborg Ballet, and the Washington Ballet; as well as the George Mason University, the University of Maryland, and Georgetown University. In 1994, he was awarded the Mayor's Arts Award for Outstanding Emerging Artist. He has also served on the board of the Asian American Arts Alliance and was appointed to the D.C. Commission for the Arts and Humanities.

Extent

6.75 Linear Feet

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

Dana Tai Soon Burgess & Co., formerly the Moving Forward Contemporary Asian American Dance Company records consists of material dating from 1988 to 2023, which covers the emergence and rise of Dana Tai Soon Burgess and the Moving Forward Contemporary Asian American Dance Company in the Washington, DC performing arts community.

Collection Organization

Organized into seven series: Performace files, Administrative files, Publications, Newspaper clippings, Audiovisual material, Oversize material, and Websites (captured using the Internet Archive's Archive-it service in 2023 and then once a year after that).

Related Materials

The Archives Center, National Museum of American History, houses a collection of photographs. This collection documents the life of Dana Tai Soon Burgess, and that of his Korean American family, dating back to 1904. Included are photographs of his family before and after they immigrated to the United States; some photographs taken during a time when they lived and worked at Kunia Camp, Hawaii; and of Burgess throughout his life. Also included are a Hawaii Identity Card of Anna Kang, and a Korean Imperial Office passport, 1904.

online description of the Dana Tai Soon Burgess Photographs collection at the Archives Center, National Museum of American History.

Reparative Description Projects

This finding aid was revised in March 2023 to address harmful descriptive language. During that revision, staff edited the Biographical/Historical note. To see the description prior to revisions, please view the previous version of the Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company records .

Title
Guide to the Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance Company records, 1988-2012
Status
Completed
Author
Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University
Date
2006
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
Finding aid written in English

Repository Details

Part of the Special Collections Research Center, The George Washington University Repository

Contact:
2130 H Street NW
Washington 20052 United States of America