Because many of you are already familiar with EOD's contributions to our remembrance of dance, I know you will appreciate our deepening concern about safeguarding all the EOD elements for public consumption. As the archive’s value increases exponentially, so too does our responsibility as the archive’s stewards.

Our goal is to systematically assess, inventory and prepare the complete EOD Archive for public access within three years.

Each half-hour EOD program is built around extensive research yielding unduplicated source material including written notes, personal communications, clippings, press kits, programs, an assortment of videotapes, notated oral conversations, photographs, books, publications and organizational materials.

So you get an idea of the scope of the archive, a preliminary review conducted over that past year revealed the contents include: Over 1800 videotapes (of various formats from 1/2" reel-to-reel to DVD) documenting conversations with dance professionals, demonstrations, performances plus theater and music presentations; 7,000 photographic images; 75,000 sheets of production, research, promotional and educational print materials; 2000+ cultural books and publications. These numbers are rough and will likely increase after our in-depth appraisal of content stretching back to 1978.

Produced during the “dance boom,” EOD captured an era of enormous change: Institutionalization of the arts, gender politics, multi-culturalism, regional dance and the NEA “culture wars.” Our content unites dance and related arts issues with educational, historical and social themes, which makes it a provocative guide for educators and the public.

More than 40% of the EOD Video Archive includes African-American and Latino artists and themes not documented elsewhere. The strong concentration of programs focused on minority artists, dancers with AIDS and under-documented contributors no longer living, underscores its historical and educational appeal. Praised by The NY Times as “one of the liveliest and most intelligent programs on the arts,” there has been no comparable effort to record the viewpoints; achievements and creative approaches of dance related artists on video. This has resulted in a wealth of unexposed primary source information yet to be scrutinized by the public.

An enormously popular, easily consumable educational resource, EOD succeeded both as a broadcast series and educational archive because it is a scholarly resource with a populist’s heart. We are in “shovel-ready” mode, but here’s the rub: our limited resources could delay our process and result in the loss of an invaluable stream of dance information on decomposing videotapes and three-decades old unmatchable print and photographic materials.

We ask you to dip into your pockets of generosity and help us rescue this archive. The Robert Sterling Clark Foundation awarded EYE ON DANCE a $40,000 grant to launch the EOD Legacy Project and your support is crucial to this venture.

Please direct your tax-deductible contributions to: EYE ON DANCE, 123 W. 18 Street 7th Floor, NY NY 10011. PLEASE MAKE A DONATION