Research Catalog

Title

Jerome Robbins discusses Dances at a gathering with Edwin Denby. [sound recording]

Author

Robbins, Jerome

Publication

1969.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Denby, Edwin, 1903-1983.

Description

1 sound disc (ca. 42 min.) digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• In a conversation with dance critic Edwin Denby, Jerome Robbins discusses his ballet, Dances at a gathering (1969). [Denby's voice is somewhat unclear.] Robbins discusses the affect on performers of reading reviews of the ballet in which they are performing and how he counteracts this; his enjoyment of watching ballet dancers during rehearsal; working with dancer Patricia McBride; the qualities of dancers Robert Weiss, Sara Leland and Robert Maiorano; the choreographers ability to see unique qualities in certain dancers; his desire to see Dances at a gathering performed by the Kirov or Bolshoi ballet companies; the setting of the ballet; his response to the long-haired appearance of his dancers as they began rehearsals; the ballet's evolution to a work less reflective of hippy culture; the expression in the ballet of his confidence in his dancers.
• Robbins discusses the inspiration for the ballet in Chopin's music; his preparation and interpretation of the music; Gordon Boelzner's piano accompaniment and Robbins' decision not to orchestrate the score; his appreciation of the lighting by Thomas Skelton and his thoughts on the set design. Robbins describes various dances within the ballet; the difficulty for the dancers to walk naturally onstage; the meaning of the finale; his arrangement of the parts of the ballet; the critical and audience reaction to the ballet; the naming of the ballet; more on the finale and its relation to the scherzo; his intentions as he was making the ballet and his surprise at the result; his creative outpouring in making the work; working with the dancers to create the ballet; his pleasure at doing ballet choreography after a hiatus and feeling of becoming unblocked creatively; his ideas for future ballets; questions posed by critics about the ballet; the sets and costumes for a production in Stockholm of his ballet, Les noces (1965); his work on a new ballet using Chopin's Nocturnes, which became In the night (1970); his work with dancer Edward Villella on his first solo in Dances at a gathering; his desire to capture the quality called "marking" in the dancers' performances of the ballet.

Series Statement

Jerome Robbins Collection

Alternative Title

Dance Audio Archive.

Subject

• Robbins, Jerome > Interviews
• Dances at a gathering (Choreographic work : Robbins)

Note

• Recorded on May 28, 1969 for article, "Jerome Robbins discusses 'Dances at a gathering' with Edwin Denby," Dance magazine, July 1969, p. 47-55.

Access (note)

• Permission required.

Funding (note)

• Preservation made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Source (note)

• WNET/13

Biography (note)

• Dances at a gathering was choreographed by Jerome Robbins with music by Frederic Chopin, costumes by Joe Eula, lighting by Thomas Skelton and piano by Gordon Boelzner. The cast included Allegra Kent, Sara Leland, Kay Mazzo, Patricia McBride, Violette Verdy, Anthony Blum, John Clifford, Robert Maiorano, John Prinz and Edward Villella. The ballet premiered on May 22, 1969.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-3293 JRC

OCLC

NYPT04-R173

Author

Robbins, Jerome, interviewee.

Title

Jerome Robbins discusses Dances at a gathering with Edwin Denby. [sound recording]

Imprint

1969.

Series

Jerome Robbins Collection

Access

Permission required.

Funding

Preservation made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Humanities.

Local Note

For transcript see *MGZMT 3-3293 JRC. The transcript was created by WNET/13 in connection with the documentary: Jerome Robbins: Something to dance about.

Biography

Dances at a gathering was choreographed by Jerome Robbins with music by Frederic Chopin, costumes by Joe Eula, lighting by Thomas Skelton and piano by Gordon Boelzner. The cast included Allegra Kent, Sara Leland, Kay Mazzo, Patricia McBride, Violette Verdy, Anthony Blum, John Clifford, Robert Maiorano, John Prinz and Edward Villella. The ballet premiered on May 22, 1969.

Local Note

Archival transcript: *MGZMTO 3-3293 JRC

Archive original: *MGZT0 7-3293 JRC

Preservation master: *MGZTP 10-3293 JRC

Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-3293 JRC

Source

Transcript Gift; WNET/13, 2008. NN-PD

Connect to:

Request Access to Special Collections (Dance Division) material

Local Subject

Audiotapes -- Robbins, J.

Added Author

Denby, Edwin, 1903-1983.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-3293 JRC