Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Joseph Duell [sound recording]

Author

Duell, Joseph.

Publication

1981.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Sears, David, 1948-1992.

Description

4 sound discs (ca. 155 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1 (ca. 48 min.), 4/25/81. [Interview conducted by telephone.] Joseph Duell speaks about his family background and musical education; his feelings about [Peter Ilich] Tchaikovsky and his music; his ballet about Tchaikovsky [Introduction and fugue created for the New York City Ballet's Tchaikovsky Festival], the choice of Adam Luders for the role of Tchaikovsky; the set for the ballet; how he came to choose Suite no. 1 in D major as the score; ideas for his new piece, set to Tchaikovsky's Sérénade mélancolique; the choice of the title Introduction and fugue; Duell's ballet Création du monde; George Balanchine's suggestions regarding the work [ends abruptly].
• Disc 2 (ca. 38 min.), 4/25/81. [Interview conducted in person.]. Duell speaks about how he familiarizes himself with a potential score prior to beginning to choreograph; Balanchine's influence on his style; the role of Rosemary Dunleavy in polishing a new work; Duell's work Jubilee; his status as a choreographer; his participation as a dancer in the Tchaikovsky Festival; more on Jubilee, including the choice of music; Duell's choreographing to Elton John's music in a lecture-demonstration; working, as a dancer, with Jerome Robbins; Duell's confidence in himself as a choreographer; the relative importance of different choreographic elements and his particular interest in shapes; his love of sculpting wood.
• Disc 3 (ca. 48 min.), 4/27/81. [Interview conducted by telephone.] Duell speaks about his ballet Création du monde; jazz elements in the New York City Ballet's repertory, for example in Robbins' ballet Interplay and Balanchine's ballet Who cares?; possible reasons for Robbins' silence regarding Duell's choreography [interruption]; choreographing the pas-de-deux in Création du monde, including his inspiration by a photo of an African ritual; how choreographing has helped his own dancing; the role of Apollo in Balanchine's eponymous ballet, including the differences between Lew Christensen's, Peter Martins', and Mikhail Baryshnikov's interpretations; Duell's concept of the role; his affinity for dramatic roles and desire to dance the role of the Prodigal son; his relationship with Lincoln Kirstein; his first major roles, in the Emeralds section of Balanchine's Jewels and in Serenade; sources of the jazz elements in Création du monde [ends abruptly].
• Disc 4 (ca. 21 min.), 4/27/81. [Continuation of telephone interview on disc 3.] Duell speaks briefly about his choreography; relates an anecdote about Balanchine's suggestion that Duell change his surname to distinguish himself from his brother [the dancer, Daniel Duell]; speaks briefly about Balanchine's ballets Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze and Le baiser de la fée, Robbins' ballet Suite of dances, and Martins' ballet Sonate di Scarlatti; Martins as a choreographer, generally.

Donor/Sponsor

• Gift of David Sears.
• Oral History Archive.
• National Endowment for the Arts, 2001-2002.

Subjects

• Music and dance
• New York City Ballet
• Duell, Joseph
• Balanchine, George
• Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)
• Introduction and fugue (Choreographic work : Duell, J)
• Création du monde (Choreographic work : Duell, J)
• Tchaikovsky Festival (1981 : New York City Ballet)
• Jubilee (Choreographic work : Duell, J)

Note

• Interview with Joseph Duell conducted by David Sears by in person and by telephone on Apr. 25 and 27, 1981 in New York City, probably as part of the research for his article, Joseph Duell: youngest contributor to New York City Ballet's Tchaikovsky Festival, in Dance news, June 1981, p. 1-3.

Funding (note)

• Preservation was made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, 2001-2002.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-1534

OCLC

NYPY04-R32

Author

Duell, Joseph. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Joseph Duell [sound recording]

Imprint

1981.

Funding

Preservation was made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, 2001-2002.

Local Note

Archive original: *MGZTCO 3-1534 nos. 1-2

Preservation master: *MGZTP 4-1534 nos. 1-4

Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-1534 nos. 1-4

Added Author

Sears, David, 1948-1992. Interviewer

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-1534