Category: Text, English, New York Public Library

500 Years of Italian Dance: Treasures from the Cia Fornaroli Collection pays tribute to the multifaceted history of Italian dance and to one of The New York Public Library's richest collections. Assembled by Walter Toscanini (1898-1971), the Cia Fornaroli Collection documents the full sweep of Italian dance history from the Renaissance to the early twentieth century. It underscores his belief that Italy played a seminal role in the genesis and development of Western theatrical dance and exerted a profound influence on performance, choreographic, and pedagogical traditions throughout Europe and in the United States, on stages both elite and popular.