Skip to main content

Personal papers of Janet Hamburg

 Collection
Call Number: PP 516

Overview

Janet Hamburg joined the Kansas University faculty in 1979 as a professor in the Department of Dance. This collection includes course-related materials, correspondence, audiovisual materials, professional service and research documents, and publication papers, spanning Hamburg's career working with dancers, athletes, and individuals with Parkinson's disease.

Dates

  • Creation: 1960s-2011 (bulk 1980s-2000s)

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

No access restrictions.

Conditions Governing Use

Spencer Library staff may determine use restrictions dependent upon the physical condition of the materials.

Biography of Janet Hamburg

Janet Hamburg was born in 1951 in New York City. She graduated in 1973 with a B.S. in Social and Urban Systems Engineering from SUNY Buffalo, but soon returned to school for an M.A. in Dance at Mills College in Oakland, California (1976).

Hamburg joined the University of Kansas faculty in 1979, researching Laban Movement Analysis (in 1982 she became a Certified Movement Analyst (CMA) in Laban Movement Analysis, receiving her certification from the Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies) to aid the elderly and children suffering from coordination and sensorimotor problems. She created two videos: "A Boy Learns to Skip and Jump" (1980s) and "Motivating Moves for People with Parkinson's" (2004). She also analyzed and applied Laban Movement Analysis to athletes, serving over the years as coach/trainer with the KU Athletics Department.

Hamburg was an internationally known movement analyst and lecturer. She taught at the Bill Evans Summer Institutes of Dance, was a guest teacher at the Juilliard School of Music, Laban/Bartenieff Institute of Movement Studies, and Sports Training Institute, and she was faculty for Laban Certification Programs in New Mexico and Berlin, Germany. She additionally provided workshops and classes in Australia, Brazil, Canada, England, Mexico, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and throughout the United States.

For her activities, which included performance, choreography, composing, writing, community service, and teaching dance and movement studies, Hamburg received the Laban/Bartenieff Institute's Laban Award for Creative Achievement, the University of Kansas W.T. Kemper Fellowship for Teaching Excellence, and the Phoenix Award for Exceptional Artistic Achievement from the Lawrence (Kansas) Arts Commission.

Janet Hamburg died in September 2010 in New York City, leaving her partner of 30 years, Lynn Bretz.

Extent

44 Linear Feet (44 boxes + 1 oversize box)

Language of Materials

English

Scope and Contents

Janet Hamburg's personal papers document the breadth of her career from working on her Ma in dance through her research with athletes and those suffering from loss of coordination and sensorimotor problems. The collection includes records related to her teaching at KU, research and scholarship, production of videos (particularly the Motivating Moves for People with Parkinson's video), workshops and instruction/lectures she provided around the globe, and other materials generally related to Hamburg's career. The collection includes extensive photographs and audiovisual materials related to performances Hamburg choreographed and more generally to University Dance Company (Udc) performances at KU, and to Hamburg's other professional activities.

Physical Location

PP 516

Related Materials

Consult the library staff on the availability of related material.

Processing Information

Box numbers 5 and 32 not used in this collection.

Title
Guide to the Janet Hamburg Collection
Subtitle
Personal papers of Janet Hamburg
Author
Finding aid prepared by rh, 2012. Finding aid encoded by rh, 2012. Finding aid revised by mwh, 2018.
Date
2012
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
Finding aid written in<language encodinganalog="language">English.</language>
Finding aid permalink
http://hdl.handle.net/10407/6655290146
Preferred citation
Janet Hamburg Collection, PP 516, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas Libraries.

Repository Details

Part of the University of Kansas. Kenneth Spencer Research Library Repository

Contact:
1450 Poplar Lane
Lawrence KS 66045-7616 United States
785-864-4334