Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Vera Zorina. October 19, 1972, 1972.

Author

Zorina, Vera

Publication

1972

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Gruen, John

Description

2 sound discs (approximately one hour and one minute): digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1, approximately 47 minutes. John Gruen speaks with Vera Zorina about her career beginning (very briefly) with the source of her name, Vera Zorina [Gruen describes Zorina's physical appearance and various objects in her home]; Zorina speaks about her husband Goddard Lieberson and her sons (briefly); her background and her early dance training including an anecdote about her first teacher, Eugenia Eduardova; her subsequent teachers including Nikolaĭ [Gustavovich] Legat, Victor Gsovsky, and Marie Rambert; dancing with Anton Dolin; being noticed by [Leonide] Massine and joining the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; her relationship with Massine; her time at the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo including reasons it was both a good experience and a difficult time [Gruen speaks about his recent interview with Massine, on September 26, 1972]; Zorina speaks about Massine as a choreographer, including his working methods as compared with Balanchine's; Balanchine's involvement as a primary reason for leaving the Ballet Russe to dance in the musical comedy On your toes; her relationship with Balanchine including their diverging career paths as a reason for the failure of their marriage; her great admiration and love for Balanchine; working with him including in [the musical comedy] I married an angel; his control and self-confidence; the unpleasant aspects of acting and dancing in Hollywood films; her brief return to ballet, in Ballet Theatre [later American Ballet Theatre] including some of her roles and her partners; briefly, Jerome Robbins; very briefly, Margot Fonteyn; Zorina's legato dancing as her best quality as a dancer [ends abruptly].
• Disc 2, approximately 14 minutes. John Gruen and Vera Zorina continue to speak about Zorina as a ballerina including her having left the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo when she was only 19; her later work narrating for orchestras; her good experiences directing operas for the Santa Fe Opera, including [Francis] Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites; her less happy experience directing [Pietro Mascagni's] Cavalleria rusticana and [Ruggiero Leoncavallo's] Pagliacci [for New York City Opera]; her life today including how her attitude toward performing has changed.

Donor/Sponsor

Gift of John Gruen, April 1974

Alternative Title

Dance Audio Archive.

Subjects

• Zorina, Vera
• Audiotapes > Zorina, V
• Massine, Leonide, 1896-1979
• Balanchine, George

Note

• Interview with Vera Zorina conducted by John Gruen on October 19, 1972 at Zorina's home in New York City. This interview was used as a basis for a chapter in John Gruen's book, The private world of ballet (New York, Viking Press).
• For transcript, see: *MGZMT 3-209.
• Sound quality is good but the recording is marred by occasional extraneous noise. There are also a few short gaps.

Funding (note)

• The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-209

OCLC

78718107

Author

Zorina, Vera, interviewee.

Title

Interview with Vera Zorina. October 19, 1972, 1972.

Production

1972

Type of Content

spoken word

Type of Medium

audio

Type of Carrier

audio disc

Event

Recorded by John Gruen 1972, October 19 New York (New York)

Funding

The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.

Original Version

Original format: one sound cassette (approximately one hour and one minute); 1 7/8 ips. originally recorded onOctber 19, 1972; transferred to wav file and compact disc formats in 2013.

Local Note

Former classmark: *MGZTC 3-209

The interview with Leonide Massine conducted by John Gruen referred to in the summary of disc 1 of the recording can be found in the Oral History Archive under the call number: *MGZTL 4-180.

Added Author

Gruen, John, interviewer.

Gruen, John, donor

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-209