In celebration of Women’s History Month 2025, the library has updated this resource guide to highlight the contributions of women in the performing arts. This curated selection serves as a starting point for researchers interested in exploring the diverse histories and achievements of women in dance, drama, and music.
The highlighted titles cover the collective topic of women's roles in the performing arts. Additional sources that focus on specific artists can be found in the library catalog by searching for individual artist names.
Several of these resources overlap with our other research guides. For more details on these intersections, we invite you to explore: Resources for the Repertoire: Composer Diversity.
As always, the library welcomes your requests and suggestions.
Compiled by Jane Gottlieb;
updated March 2016, January 2017, February 2018, February 2019, February 2021, March 2022, March 2023 by David Snow. updated March 2025 by Olivia Buck.
Unconditional Equals by Anne Phillips
How Women Made Music edited by Alison Fensterstock
Black Tap Dance and its Women Pioneers by Cheryl M. Willis
Feminist solidarities after modulation by Sara Morais dos Santos Bruss
Running the Room: Conversations with Women Theatre Directions by Rosemary Waugh
The Long Revolution: Sixty Years on the Frontlines of a New American Theater by Zelda Fichandler
The Swans of Harlem: Five Black Ballerinas, Fifty Year of Sisterhood, and Their Reclamation of a Groundbreaking History by Karen Valby
Hidden Harmonies: Women and Music in Popular Entertainment edited by Paula J. Bishop
Beyond the Canon’s Plays for Young Activists: Three Plays by Women from the Global Majority edited by Simeilia Hodge-Dallaway
Quartet: How Four Women Changed the Musical World by Leah Broad
FemPoetiks of American Poetry and Americana Music by Linda Nicole Blair
Feminism and Gender Politics in Mediated Popular Music by Ann Werner
Futures of Dance Studies by Susan Manning, Janice Ross, and Rebecca Schneider
Singing Sappho: Improvisation and Authority in Nineteenth-Century Italian Opera by Melina Esse
Maya Rao and Indian Feminist Theatre by Bishnupriya Dutt
Intersectional Class Struggle: Theory and Practice by Michael Reagan
Gendering Taboos: 10 Short Plays by African Women edited by Tosin Tume