Founded in 1957 by Kurt Petermann as a collection of traditional folklore, the TAL has evolved to an institution of documentation of all areas of dance. Until his death in 1984, Mr Petermann worked relentlessly to establish the archive as a renowned institution for the analysis of dance as a cultural phenomenon and in 1975 he achieved the affiliation with the GDR Academy of the Arts. In 1993, the TAL became a registered association founded by the Leipzig University and the Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy Academy for Music and Theatre.