The Background Materials series, (.10 linear feet, 1967-1999), includes a curriculum vitae with a chronological list of Sparling's choreographic works through the year 1999, a journal written while he was on tour in the Soviet Union in 1973, news clippings, and other biographical materials.
6 linear feet — 95.4 GB (online)
The Peter Sparling Papers include materials relating to Sparling's dance training, performance, and teaching. The papers are divided into eight series: Background Materials, Choreography, Correspondence, Dance Companies, Programs, Reviews, Photographs, Performance, Audition, and Rehearsal Videos, and Posters.
The Performance, Audition, and Rehearsal Videos series, (1 linear foot, 1 outsized box, and 96 GB 1972-2012), documents a variety of Sparling's performances, screendances, auditions, and rehearsals from 1972 to 2013. The series is arranged alphabetically by the title of the work and includes six reels of film (ca. 1947-1972), 45 VHS videocassettes (1977-1994), 33 digital videocassettes (1981-2001; transferred from Hi-8, U-matic, S-VHS, and VHS formats), and 25 digital video files (featuring works from 1994 to 2013).
Taken as a whole, the series illustrates the range and depth of Sparling's work as a dancer, choreographer, director, and innovator in recording techniques. Highlights include five reels of 8 mm home film footage from Sparling's childhood (used in his work, "In Stride"), a film reel of a 1972 performance by Sparling and Janet Eilber of a Doris Humphrey work, nine VHS cassettes of dances from 1977-1981 recovered by the New York Public Library's Dance Division from badly-deteriorated one half inch open reel tapes, and 37 S-VHS videocassettes documenting the Martha Graham Dance Company's four days in residence at the University of Michigan as part of the 1994 Martha Graham Centenary Festival (presented by Sparling, the University of Michigan Dance Department and the University Musical Society). The 1999 "1-Inflow/Outflow" project, an experiment in technology-enabled distance cooperation among several disciplines, includes a performance of Sparling's piece "The Ariel Web." Other recordings emphasize Sparling's accomplishments as a dancer ("Swing Serenade" "Bride of Grand Prairie" and "What She Forgot He Remembered") educator ("Heart's Crossing"), and choreographer ("Dance for 'The Wave Field'" and "Orfeo ed Euridice"). In the 2000s and 2010s, Sparling's dancepoems ("The Snowy Owl"), screendances ("Paris Accelerations" and "Babel") and collaborations ("Photoformance: Long Lie Down") are a testament to his continuing productivity and relevance. Performances in the series also feature members of the Peter Sparling Dance Company, Ann Arbor Dance Works, Peter Sparling Presents Solo Flight, and University of Michigan Dance Company .