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Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library

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The Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library with 2 archives: Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) & Intl. Piano Archives at Maryland (IPAM).

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Happy Henson Week! We're celebrating all week and tomorrow at MSPAL we are happy to host UMD's Dr. Paul Cote tomorrow at 12PM in the Piano Room giving a talk, "They Call this Editing. I Call it Cheating!" Script Drafts From the Greatest (and Cheapest) Muppet Movies (N)ever Made." Check the link in our bio for a full description and full list of events for Henson Week 2026. See you there! #muppets #muppetshow #library #archive by @mspal.umd

HALLOWEEN IS UPON US! Our archivists for the Hugo Keesing collection on popular music and culture have some costume ideas to explore in the collection, stop by to get inspired, still plenty of time to get that costume in order!!
#archives #libraries #beatlemania #halloween #costumeideas by @mspal.umd

Why indeed! Our next video in 12 Object features dancer, choreographer, writer, and educator @lizlerman reflecting on her founding of Dance Exchange and the principles behind it while going thorugh a scrapbook in the Dance Exchange records at Special Collections in Performing Arts. Full video is available in our bio!

#choreographers #dancehistory #archives #artist #dancer by @mspal.umd

Celebrate 50 years of Dance Exchange at The Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library! Take a mini virtual tour through the exhibition with Manager of Special Collections in Performing Arts, Ben Jackson. Afterwards, head over to the library to check it out for yourself!

#umdlibraires #danceexchange #mspal by @mspal.umd

This weekend, TDPS opens "Mr. Burns: A Post-Electric Play" @theclariceumd, and we're so happy to bring this thoughtful and innovative show back to the DMV almost 14 years after its premiere.

With help from the Special Collections in Performing Arts (SCPA) at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library (MSPAL), we found some key pieces of Mr. Burns' history and got to see how the show evolved from its first workshop to the world premiere at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in D.C.. We even saw some familiar names in the original production list: Frank Labovitz M.F.A. ’10 and TDPS lecturer was the original costume designer and TDPS Professor Misha Kachman was the scenic designer.

Take a look through Mr. Burns' history then come see the show opening this Friday, October 9. Tickets and info can be found in our bio.

#umdartsforall #universityofmaryland #umdtdps #umdtheatre #theclarice #MrBurns by @mspal.umd

Gratitude to Roddy Frantz, vocalist for the band Urban Verbs, who reportedly passed away recently. An important band in the evolution of D.C. music at the turn of the 1980s and one that's still due for a wider reappraisal and appreciation. Listen to either of their albums on Warner Brothers, maybe starting with the song "Subways" off 1980's self-titled LP.

MSPAL's Special Collections in Performing Arts is proud to be the home of the Urban Verbs collection, open to anyone who wants to access all of the photos, publications, recordings, and more. Photo by @dhpictures by @mspal.umd

HAPPY FIRST DAY! Whether it's your first day here or if it's your 40th first day, welcome back, The Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library is open and here to help! Whether you're looking for subject expertise, rare archival materials, or just a beautiful place to sit and meet, MSPAL has it. Welcome back all and here's to a great start to the fall semester! by @mspal.umd

👀 Attention UMD passengers: Visit the Libraries 2026 starts on Monday, 8/31! More info at the link in our bio.

#VisitUMDLibraries #UMD #Terps #UMDLibraries by @mspal.umd

Liz Lerman on notation, precision, and the beauty of interpretation. Out now on our channel, the next video in our Twelve Objects series sees @lizlerman going through notes and drafts saved from a flood that nearly destroyed all of the early records of Dance Exchange. While reading through drafts and choreography, Lerman reflects on how "In Praise of Fertile Fields," part of the Hallelujah Project created for and performed at @jacobspillow came to be. Link is in our bio for the full video!
#artisticprocess #choreographer #dancehistory #archives #jacobspillow by @mspal.umd

SAVE THE DATE!! We invite the UMD community to join the Music and Social Identity IRIE team on Wednesday, July 22nd at the open house for their exhibit, Defining America: Composing Identity in the 1950s!

The students have been hard at work this summer researching special collections in University Archives as well as Performing Arts @mspal.umd to create the exhibit! As always, we're super proud and excited to see their hard work come together! Plus, there's no time like the present to (re)consider what it means to create American identity.

Come see the exhibit (and the UA & SCPA teams tabling with materials!) Wednesday the 22nd from 12-2PM at the Michelle Smith Performing Arts Library! by @mspal.umd

Up now on our channel! A folded up sheet of notes and drawings tucked into a notebook demonstrates how memory can be transmuted into art as Liz Lerman reflects on her process. In this video, Liz Lerman explores the Dance Exchange records at Special Collections in Performing Arts, walking through each bit of information on this handwritten artifact from a rehearsal showing how she turns lived experience into dance.

#dancehistory #archives #creativity #inspiration #choreography by @mspal.umd

“Coming Attractions” and “Atomic Priests” interrogate the afterlife of nuclear waste and the ways in which humanity plans for it through motion, song, and dance. In this video, Liz Lerman explores the Dance Exchange records at Special Collections in Performing Arts and uses the original government reports and artifacts that inspired the works to discuss their genesis and continuing relevance. Link in our bio for the full video!#choreographers #dancehistory #archives #libraries #umd by @mspal.umd