THE ARCHIVE/ About the Trisha Brown Archive

Access Policy

Located in Midtown Manhattan, the Trisha Brown Archives is open Monday-Friday to TBDC staff and remotely to researchers, students, curators, artists, and anyone interested in the life and work of Trisha Brown and the history and activities of the Trisha Brown Dance Company. 

The Trisha Brown Dance Company supports artistic and scholarly endeavors that exemplify Trisha’s groundbreaking spirit and enduring legacy.

Materials in the archive are protected by copyright and/or related rights. Permission to use them outside of a research context must be obtained from the appropriate rights-holder(s). Fees and further information on licensing TBDC archives materials for exhibition and publication are available upon request. 

For research inquiries, loan requests, or for further information, please fill out the Archives Request form below.

Archives Request Form

For all other questions, please contact the archive:

Beth Rudig
,
Company Archivist
Trisha Brown and two unidentified dancers in Planes (1968). Performed at Riverside Church Theatre, New York, June 12, 1968. Photograph by Peter Moore. © Northwestern University.

Trisha Brown and two unidentified dancers in Planes (1968). Performed at Riverside Church Theatre, New York, June 12, 1968. Photograph by Peter Moore. © Northwestern University.

Abigail Yager, Stacy Matthew Spence, and Seth Parker in Canto / Pianto (1998). Photograph © 1999 Chris Callis.

Abigail Yager, Stacy Matthew Spence, and Seth Parker in Canto / Pianto (1998). Photograph © 1999 Chris Callis.

View of Trisha Brown’s loft with drawings Untitled (New York) , 2001, Charcoal on paper, 102 x 120 inches (259.1 x 30 4.8 cm) (wall, left); Untitled (New York) , 2001, 102 x 120 inches (259.1 x 304.8 cm) (floor); and Burt Barr’s Double Feature , 2000, Lithograph, 53.5 x 38.75 inches (135.9 x 98.4 cm) (wall, right), New York, December 2001. Photograph © Burt Barr.

View of Trisha Brown’s loft with drawings Untitled (New York) , 2001, Charcoal on paper, 102 x 120 inches (259.1 x 30 4.8 cm) (wall, left); Untitled (New York) , 2001, 102 x 120 inches (259.1 x 304.8 cm) (floor); and Burt Barr’s Double Feature , 2000, Lithograph, 53.5 x 38.75 inches (135.9 x 98.4 cm) (wall, right), New York, December 2001. Photograph © Burt Barr.

Gregory Lara, Lisa Schmidt, Wil Swanson, David Thompson, Nicole Juralewicz, and Kevin Kortan in For M.G.: The Movie (1991). Photograph © Mark Hanauer.

Gregory Lara, Lisa Schmidt, Wil Swanson, David Thompson, Nicole Juralewicz, and Kevin Kortan in For M.G.: The Movie (1991). Photograph © Mark Hanauer.

Vicky Shick and Diane Madden rehearsing Lateral Pass (1985) at Trisha Brown's loft in Lower Manhattan. Photograph © Paul Trachtman.

Vicky Shick and Diane Madden rehearsing Lateral Pass (1985) at Trisha Brown's loft in Lower Manhattan. Photograph © Paul Trachtman.

Trisha Brown and Steve Paxton in Lightfall (1963). Performed at Concert of Dance # 4, Judson Memorial Church, January 30, 1963. Photograph by Peter Moore. © Northwestern University.

Trisha Brown and Steve Paxton in Lightfall (1963). Performed at Concert of Dance # 4, Judson Memorial Church, January 30, 1963. Photograph by Peter Moore. © Northwestern University.

Stephen Petronio, Lisa Kraus, Trisha Brown and Eva Karczag in the premiere performance of Opal Loop / Cloud Installation #72503 (198 0). Presented at 55 Crosby Street, New York, June 10 – 14, 1980. Photograph © J. Paul Getty Trust.

Stephen Petronio, Lisa Kraus, Trisha Brown and Eva Karczag in the premiere performance of Opal Loop / Cloud Installation #72503 (198 0). Presented at 55 Crosby Street, New York, June 10 – 14, 1980. Photograph © J. Paul Getty Trust.

Lisa Kraus, Eva Karczag, Stephen Petronio, Vicky Shick, Diane Madden, and Randy Warshaw in the world premiere of Son of Gone Fishin' (1981). Presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music, October 16 – 18, 1981. Photograph © The Estate of Nathaniel Tileston.

Lisa Kraus, Eva Karczag, Stephen Petronio, Vicky Shick, Diane Madden, and Randy Warshaw in the world premiere of Son of Gone Fishin' (1981). Presented by Brooklyn Academy of Music, October 16 – 18, 1981. Photograph © The Estate of Nathaniel Tileston.

Portrait of Trisha Brown by Johan Elbers, 1985. Photograph © Johan Elbers.

Portrait of Trisha Brown by Johan Elbers, 1985. Photograph © Johan Elbers.

In 2019, in partnership with the Trisha Brown Dance Company, the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library acquired the Trisha Brown Archives. Once the collection is processed, it will be open to researchers at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Selections from the Trisha Brown Dance Company holdings and the Estate of Trisha Brown are also in the collections of Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, The Museum of Modern Art in Manhattan, and Tate Modern in London. Trisha Brown’s drawings are managed by her gallery, Sikkema Jenkins & Co.

One of the most acclaimed and influential choreographers and dancers of her time, and an artist whose work has earned recognition in numerous institutions, Trisha Brown engaged collaborators who are themselves leaders in music, theater, and the visual arts. Together with artists and composers such as Robert Rauschenberg, Fujiko Nakaya, Donald Judd, Nancy Graves, Robert Ashley, Laurie Anderson, John Cage, Salvatore Sciarrino, and many more, Brown created over 100 choreographies and six operas.

As a whole, the Trisha Brown Archives represents a comprehensive record of Brown’s creative process, with an interdisciplinary and collaborative focus reflected in the scope of its material. Today, the Trisha Brown Dance Company relies on this important resource for the reconstruction of historic choreographies, and continued performance, licensing, and educational programming surrounding Brown’s prolific output.

In addition to Trisha Brown’s personal papers, notebooks, and library, the archives comprises a robust audiovisual collection, with recordings dating as early as 1966, including decades of rehearsal footage, performance documentation, interviews, lecture demonstrations, studio showings, sound recordings, and works of film and video art. More than 1,500 titles from the audiovisual collection have been preserved and digitized, thanks to generous support from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Film Preservation Foundation.

The archives also includes the institutional records of the Trisha Brown Dance Company, detailing administrative, artistic, and educational activities since its founding in 1970, with departmental records and significant holdings in photographic prints, slides, and ephemera, as well as historic sets, costumes, and stage maquettes.

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