Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Erick Hawkins [sound recording]

Author

Hawkins, Erick.

Publication

1984.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Sears, David, 1948-1992.

Description

3 sound discs (ca. 129 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1, ca. 48 min. Erick Hawkins speaks about his work John Brown, including the reason he calls it a passion play; its themes of morality and justice; the use of dance to examine ethical issues and civil rights; its development from his work Liberty tree, especially the third section Free-stater Kansas; the use of spoken text in John Brown, including the effect of his experience with works of Martha Graham such as American document; contrasts dance as a means to convey feeling with text as a means to convey information; the process of the creation of the text in John Brown, including his collaboration with the poet Robert Richman; Charles Mills, the composer of the score; Liberty tree and the composer Ralph Gilbert; influence of the writings of [Ralph Waldo] Emerson and [Henry David] Thoreau on his art.
• Disc 2, ca. 48 min. Hawkins continues to speak about the influence of Emerson and Thoreau as well as Melville, and the consciousness of the American spirit, on his art; more on John Brown, including the use of text and the basis for its comparison with a Noh drama; Hawkins' work the Joshua tree, including his use of text and of abstract movement; more on his moral, ethical, and religious views; speaks briefly about his works Summer-clouds people and Sudden snake bird; more on the Joshua tree, including the burro used as a prop; its text; the use of movement to convey narrative elements; the process of its creation, including his collaboration with the composer Ross Lee Finney; the work's comic aspects; the use of trees in Hawkins' works; the text in other works, including a work-in-progress [Ahab] and Killer-of-enemies: the divine hero [ends abruptly].
• Disc 3, ca. 33 min. Hawkins speaks about pure dance as distinguished from dance as communication; dance as metaphor, e.g., as in the portrayal of a pine tree; [in response to the interviewer's questions seeking to identify literary sources of his works] discusses the source of a quotation in Hawkins' work Angels of the inmost heaven; nudity, in general and in dance; Hawkins' work Cantilever; polo as the inspiration for his work Lords of Persia; the process by which he decides on a title, e.g., Agathlon and Plains daybreak; his concept of classicism, as embodied in his work God's angry men; his view that his work is not understood; his opinion of Martha Graham's theory of movmement and of her dancing as of the time he left her company.

Donor/Sponsor

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

Subjects

• Hawkins, Erick
• Dance > Social aspects
• John Brown (Choreographic work : Hawkins)
• Joshua tree (Choreographic work : Hawkins)
• Liberty tree (Choreographic work : Hawkins)
• Audiotapes > Hawkins, E

Note

• Interview with Erick Hawkins by David Sears on Sept. 17, 1984, probably in New York City. The sound quality of disc 3 is fair, and the entire recording is marred by extraneous noise.

Funding (note)

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

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-1552

OCLC

NYPY04-R37

Author

Hawkins, Erick. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Erick Hawkins [sound recording]

Imprint

1984.

Funding

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

Local Note

Archival originals: *MGZTCO 3-1552 nos. 1-2

Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-1552 nos. 1-3

Local Subject

Audiotapes -- Hawkins, E.

Added Author

Sears, David, 1948-1992. Interviewer

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-1552