- Additional Authors
- Terry, Walter
- Description
- 2 streaming audio files (approximately one hour and 7 minutes): digital
- Summary
- Streaming audio file 1 (approximately 47 minutes). Alicia Alonso speaks with Walter Terry about the status of ballet when she was young; her early dance and acting training in Cuba; her first attempt to form a ballet company, with Nora Kaye and others; the formation of Ballet Alicia Alonso, a predecessor of the Ballet Nacional de Cuba; formation of a professional ballet school in Cuba, in 1953; continuing to dance as a guest artist while developing the company and school; her approach to directing, as for example, regarding the Wilis in Giselle; the influence of Antony Tudor on her work; training dancers to understand the distinctions in style and characterization appropriate to different classical ballets; her portrayal of Giselle over the years [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 2].
- Streaming audio file 2 (approximately 20 minutes). Alicia Alonso speaks with Walter Terry about encouraging the expression of personality within the classical style; reminiscences about dancing in the corps of Ballet Theatre [now American Ballet Theatre] including anecdotes about her and Nora Kaye in the operas Aida and Il trovatore; the iinfluence of George Balanchine on her work including an anecdote about her dancing his Theme and variations; the objectives of what is called "psycho-ballet'; her continued enjoyment of dancing herself and watching others dance.
- Donor/Sponsor
- Oral History Archive. Gift of Walter Terry.
- Subjects
- Genre/Form
- Interviews.
- Sound recordings.
- Note
- Interview with Alicia Alonso conducted by Walter Terry Havana, Cuba, probably in 1978, as research for his book, Alicia and her Ballet Nacional de Cuba (Garden City, NY: Anchor Books, 1981).
- Sound quality is good overall. The recording is marred by occasional extraneous noise, but the speakers' voices are clear and easy to understand.
- Title supplied by cataloger.
- Access (note)
- Patrons may access streaming audio only on site at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
- 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.
- Source (note)
- Call Number
- *MGZTCO 3-857
- OCLC
- 958936536
- Author
Alonso, Alicia, 1920-2019, interviewee.
- Title
Interview with Alicia Alonso
- Imprint
[1978?]
- Type of Content
spoken word
- Type of Medium
audio
- Type of Carrier
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
audio file
- Restricted Access
Patrons may access streaming audio only on site at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center.
- Event
Recorded by Walter Terry 1978? Havana, Cuba
- 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 7 minutes); quarter-track; 1.875 ips; transferred to wav file and streaming file format in 2015 : myd_mgztco3857_v01f01_sc and myd_mgztco3857_v01f02_sc.
- Local Note
Former class mark: *MGZTC 3-857
- Source
Gift Walter Terry
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Terry, Walter, interviewer.
- Research Call Number
*MGZTCO 3-857