Overview:

The Dance Curator reports to the Director of the Library for the Performing Arts and is a member of the Director’s senior management team. The Curator has primary responsibility for administration of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, the world's largest and most comprehensive archive of dance. The Dance Curator also supervises the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image and its AMI collections. Responsibilities include promoting and facilitating use of the collection, initiating outreach to the dance and dance research communities, and recommending collections for acquisition. The Curator is tasked with both building a collection and community that will see the division into the future and preserving the legacy of the division’s past.  

 

The Curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division holds one of the most respected leadership positions in the global dance research community. S/he nurtures current relationships and develops new collaborations with the world’s most celebrated dance figures and organizations.  As leader of the world's most comprehensive dance collection that is free and accessible to all users, the curator ensures that the collection not only continues to flourish, but is an accessible worldwide resource. This is achieved through expert curation, and working in tandem with a number of NYPL departments. The Curator is a dance expert who will cultivate the subject expertise of the Dance Division staff, and will develop initiatives that will maximize the use of the collection and increase community engagement.

Principal Responsibilities:

Under the direction of the Director of the Library for the Performing Arts, the Curator of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division will perform the following functions:

Develops a clear strategic plan that will shape acquisitions and engage and inform the national and international dance community while providing leadership, vision, direction, advocacy, and accountability for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image.
Responsible for all areas of the Dance Division’s acquisitions and collecting scope, including ballet, modern, jazz, tap, ethnic, traditional, and Baroque dancing in various formats from paper manuscripts to digital video, from photographs to rare books.
Exposes in-depth knowledge about the Dance Division’s collections in a variety of formats including collection guides, blog posts, curated digital collections, and online exhibitions, which can be accessed by worldwide users.
Partners with NYPL’s educational outreach and other external institutions on educational initiatives, which may include developing and leading public curatorial and gallery talks, meeting with classes, or developing strategies for digital literacy.
Collaborates with NYPL’s departments on matters relating to preservation, access, cataloging, digitization, policy and stewardship of the collection, in its multiplicity of formats including AMI.
Engages with donors, creators, scholars, students, and general users in aligning the Jerome Robbins Dance Division’s mission with the current and future needs of the local, national and international dance community.
Participates in public programming, exhibitions, and events pertaining to dance.
Provides leadership and direction for the Dance Division’s Outreach, Advisory, and Fundraising Groups.

Committee for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Friends of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division
African Dance Advisory Group

Managerial/ Supervisory Responsibilities :
The Dance Curator has overall supervisory responsibility for a staff of 6.5 FTE. 
Key Competencies:

Accountability and Professionalism – Demonstrates enthusiasm for and commitment to the position and accepts responsibility for personal actions.
Customer Service – Commits to meeting the expectations of internal and external customers.Listens and responds effectively to customer questions; resolves customer problems to the customer’s satisfaction; respects all internal and external customers.
Collaboration and Teamwork – Supports a positive team environment in which members participate, respect and cooperate with each other to receive desired results.
Job-Specific Knowledge and Skills - Plans, prioritizes, and organizes work effectively to produce measurable results; keeps current with and effectively applies new work methods, skills and technologies to complete work.
Leadership and Management - Provides direction, motivation and sets an example through open communication and modeling best practices.  Demonstrates ability to motivate others to meet a common goal; and, recognizes and effectively leverages employees’ skills and abilities.  Establishes realistic budget plans and demonstrates fiscal responsibility.
Performance Management and Development - Provides clear departmental strategic goals, individual employee performance expectations and criteria for performance measurement. Provides meaningful and appropriate advice, on-going feedback, support and resources to improve effectiveness of individuals and teams. Addresses performance problems in an appropriate and timely manner.

 

Minimum Qualifications:

 

Graduate degree in an arts discipline with focus on dance preferred
Substantial knowledge of the performing arts, particularly dance
Knowledge of current practices and emerging trends in humanities scholarship and publishing
Knowledge of preservation issues, both digital and traditional, and current trends facing large research libraries
Demonstrated understanding of archives and archival description/metadata
Successfully demonstrated ability to cultivate relationships with donors, peer institutions, the dance industry and dance community
Demonstrated active participation within the dance community on the development of collaborative projects
Successfully demonstrated experience with the development, management, and completion of digital projects
Demonstrated commitment to professional development through record of scholarly publications, presentations, and participation in professional associations
Excellent leadership and management skills and the ability to motivate, develop, and inspire people
Experience in forming strategic partnerships, building communities, and initiating and organizing events and collaborative projects
Excellent interpersonal, collaborative, oral and written communication skills, including demonstrated ability to work effectively with the public, with advanced scholars and independent researchers, and with a variety of NYPL staff, including curators and subject specialists, reference librarians, NYPL Labs, the web team, Marketing and Communications, Development, and Education.
Successfully demonstrated ability to prepare budgets

Work Environment:

Most of the Dance Curator’s work will take place in an office setting.  Some required duties such as donor relations may require trips to donor’s homes to evaluate collection material. Moving and lifting boxes with collection material may be involved in this process.  The Curator will also represent the Dance Division at dance events and conferences locally and world-wide.    

Union / Non Union:
Non Union