The Connecticut College School of Dance and American Dance Festival, as they came to be called in 1959, originated at Bennington College. The Bennington School of Dance and Bennington Festival began in 1934 and continued until 1942, when hardships of World War II and other academic considerations prevented Bennington from continuing its sponsorship of the program.

After the war, Martha Hill, one of the founders of the Bennington program, investigated the possibility of establishing a summer dance school and festival at Connecticut College. From 1948-1951, New York University (NYU) and Connecticut College co-sponsored the festival at the college under the name of An American Dance Festival, and the dance school under the name of the New York-Connecticut College School of the Dance. NYU School of Education faculty and administrators remained on the school of dance Administrative Board and on the Festival Executive Committee until 1951 when NYU withdrew its co-sponsorship. Connecticut College continued its sponsorship for another 26 years. Between 1948 and 1968 the Connecticut College News Office and its antecedents - the Publicity Bureau, the Publicity Office, and the Office of Press Relations - were responsible for school of dance and festival publicity.

In 1949 an was dropped from the festival title; and in 1959 the name of the dance school was changed from Connecticut College School of the Dance to Connecticut College School of Dance.

In December 1968, Connecticut College President Charles E. Shain announced the merger of the school of dance and festival under the title The Connecticut College American Dance Festival (CCADF), uniting the Festival Committee and Advisory Board and creating a new administrative structure for the festival/school of dance.

In 1975, CCADF was incorporated in New York under the name of the American Dance Festival, Inc. (ADF) and granted non-profit independent entity. Dispute over the responsibility for operating costs of the ADF soon arose between Connecticut College President Oakes Ames and ADF Director Charles Reinhart, and in 1976, Reinhart began investigating relocating the festival. In 1978, having accepted an offer from Duke University, Reinhart moved the American Dance Festival to Durham, North Carolina, where it now resides.

References

Anderson,]ack. The American Dance Festival. Durham: Duke University Press, 1987.

Cohen-Stratynew, Barbara N. Biographical Dictionary of Dance. New York: Schimer Books, 1982.

McDonagh, Don. The Complete Guide to Modem Dance. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1976.