New York Public Library for the Performing Arts

08/12/2026

"Who is the real Betty Boop?" BOOP! The Musical, starring Jasmine Amy Rogers as Betty Boop. was filmed by the Library for the Performing Arts, and it's now accessible in our Theatre on Film and Tape Archive.

Learn more about accessing this and thousands of other titles: https://on.nypl.org/45h7K7Y

📷: Photo by Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman.

08/12/2026

Calling all theater-loving teens! Apply to the Library for the Performing Arts Teen Theater Ensemble after school program, now in its second year.

Deadline: Aug 28.

Apply: https://on.nypl.org/4qb1AQv

08/10/2026

Jumping for joy!

Here are five of the dancers in Bob Fosse's "Dancin'."

Stop by our archives to check out clippings or photographs from this seminal show, or to watch the video of the 2023 revival.

📷: Vicki Frederick, Christopher Chadman, Charles Ward, Linda Haberman, and Gail Benedict jumping in a scene from the stage production "Dancin'," photo by Martha Swope, 1978. Billy Rose Theatre Division.

08/10/2026

Learn to dance the Latin Hustle with Maria Torres! Check out our series of free workshops happening all this month at the Library for the Performing Arts.

Information for event: Floor to Ceiling Dance and Learn: Hustle Technique | The New York Public Library

08/09/2026

Enrico Cecchetti created a ballet technique that is still widely used today, and now you can take a class at the Library for the Performing Arts to learn it!

Starting Aug 10, we are hosting a series of classes led by the founder of the New York Theatre Ballet School, Diana Byer, who will supplement her expertise on the iconic Cecchetti technique with material from the Jerome Robbins Dance Division’s collection to lead movement workshops highlighting the history of the technique.

The class is free, and no prior dance experience is required. See you there!

Information for event: Floor to Ceiling Dance and Learn: Cecchetti Technique | The New York Public Library

08/07/2026

The Library for the Performing Arts was recently in the Bronx recording an outdoor street dance performance to add to its archive in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division. B-girl LaRokafella NYC and the Library's Daisy Pommer, who oversees Original Documentations for the Dance Division, spoke to us about the importance of archiving street dance for the Library.

"How Do We Move in Public?" is the second program in Social Practice CUNY’s 2026 series How Do We ___________ in Public?, a cycle of four free experimental events responding to contemporary crises shaping the cultural field, including the defunding and targeting of public institutions and the erosion of shared civic space. This second program in the series partnered with BAAD! Bronx Academy of Arts and Dance during the Boogie Down Dance Series.

Organized by Nicolás Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo Ovalles Morel and presented on July 13, the event brought together these dancers and choreographers with connections to the Bronx to generate movement-based actions in public spaces in the South Bronx: Argelia Arreola, Ana ‘Rokafella’ García, Paloma McGregor/Angela’s Pulse, Alethea Pace, and more.

This video features Rokafella, Kwiskstep and other dancers from the Bronx-based street dance company, Full Circle Souljahs.

Videographer Alex Romania captured footage for the Library to add to its archive, which will be available for anyone with a Library card to view soon!

🎶: Music by Ben Boogz.

08/06/2026

Name a more iconic duo. Andy Warhol, born on this day in 1928, created a series of three pop artworks based on images of Graham performing, to fundraise for the Martha Graham Dance Company in 1986.

Warhol and Graham's collaboration was more than artistic—they were actually friends. Both hailing from Pittsburgh, Graham said that when she first met Warhol, he said he saw her dance "Appalachian Spring," and "it touched him deeply.”

These images from our archive show the iconic pair together at the Graham Company's 60th anniversary.

Explore more in our , then come see our exhibition, "Martha Graham: The Mother of Psychological Dance."

https://on.nypl.org/4w2e6TC

📷: Choreographer Martha Graham and artist Andy Warhol with painting of Martha Graham (after Barbara Morgan photographs), 1986, photo by Martha Swope.

08/05/2026

“Spring Awakening,” a teen coming of age rock musical is coming to Studio Seaview, but did you know it wasn't always a musical? In fact, it was based off a play published in 1891!

Duncan Sheik and Stephen Sater's musical was based on a German play, "Frühlings Erwachen," by Frank Wedekind.

The play's clear-eyed look at s*x, abuse, and queerness meant that it faced censorship attempts in many of its attempted productions. It was even banned from commercial production for years after it was first published.

Before you see the revival, check out the Library for the Performing Arts to see photographs and designs for the play and musical. You can even watch recordings of Bill T. Jones' Tony Award-winning choreography for the original 2006 Broadway production!

📷: Ira Lewis and Lynne Lipton in a production of "The Awakening of Spring," photo by Friedman-Abeles, 1964.

08/04/2026

✨ Soak in the genius and movement of Martha Graham by checking out "Martha Graham: The Mother of Psychological Dance" at the Library for the Performing Arts.

The exhibition, curated by Jack Ferver, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the Martha Graham Dance Company, and is on view through Nov 7 at our Library at Lincoln Center.

08/03/2026

"Let the memory live again!" 🐈‍⬛ Although the "CATS: The Jellicle Ball" production's current run ends at the Broadhurst Theatre on Aug 8, the Library for the Performing Arts taped the show to add to its Theatre on Film and Tape Archive, and it will soon be accessible.

Stay tuned for more updates, and learn about how to access the Theatre on Film and Tape Archive at the Library: https://www.nypl.org/toft

📷: Matthew Murphy and Evan Zimmerman for MurphyMade.