Research Catalog

Interview with Merce Cunningham

Title
Interview with Merce Cunningham [sound recording].
Author
Cunningham, Merce.
Publication
1983.

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AudioUse in library *MGZTL 4-1529Performing Arts Research Collections - Dance

Details

Additional Authors
Sears, David, 1948-1992.
Description
1 sound disc (ca. 66 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.
Summary
David Sears interviews Merce Cunningham, by telephone, primarily about his work for Martha Graham when Cunningham was at the Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance and the Martha Graham Dance Company. [In general, Sears' questions tend to include detailed facts regarding Graham's works and Cuningham's roles, while Cunningham's answers tend to be brief.] Cunningham confirms that he first met Martha Graham at Mills [College]; speaks about dancing in her work Every soul is a circus; Graham's work El penitente, including his feelings about wearing a mask and dancing the role of the Christ figure; the props, including the cross and the wagon; Graham's work Letter to the world, including his solo in the role of March; Graham's work Punch and the Judy, including dancing the role of Pegasus; Sears asks about Graham's work Land be bright, which Cunningham does not recall at all; Graham's work Deaths and entrances, including his fight scene with Erick [Hawkins]; his thoughts on Graham's method of creating roles; Sears asks about Graham's work Imagined wing, of which Cunningham recalls very little; Graham's work Appalachian spring, including his choreographing his own solo for his role as the preacher [the Revivalist] [gap]; his role as an offstage speaker in Graham's work Salem shore; his onstage speaking role as the Interlocutor in Graham's work American document; Cunningham's work Mysterious adventure [with music by John Cage]; reasons Cunningham studied with and danced for Graham; reason Graham began choreographing leaping movements; his thoughts on the contraction in Graham technique, including how watching it performed influenced his concept of movement; Louis Horst's composition classes [gap of ca. 1 min.]; his admiration for Horst's love of dance; his relationship with Graham, including the reason he left her company.
Donor/Sponsor
  • New York State Council for the Arts, 2006-2007.
  • National Endowment for the Arts, 2006-2007.
  • Oral History Archive.
Subjects
Note
  • Interview with Merce Cunningham conducted by David Sears by telephone, on May 19, 1983, in New York City.
Funding (note)
  • Preservation was funded in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, 2006-2007 and the National Endowment for the Arts, 2006-2007.
Call Number
*MGZTL 4-1529
OCLC
85448313
Author
Cunningham, Merce. Interviewee
Title
Interview with Merce Cunningham [sound recording].
Imprint
1983.
Funding
Preservation was funded in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, 2006-2007 and the National Endowment for the Arts, 2006-2007.
Local Note
Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-1529
Preservation master: 2 sound files (ca. 66 min.) : digital, WAV file, 96 kHz, 24 bit; danmgztco31529p1, danmgztco31529p2; on AIT-2 tape dated 12/04/06, copied by Chicago Audio Works, 11/ 2006; located in the Rose Building workroom as of 04/28/09. When space becomes available in Princeton ReCAP or an alternative off-site storage area, the LTO and AIT master tapes are to be moved to such location.
Archive original: *MGZTCO 3-1529
Local Subject
Audiotapes -- Cunningham, M.
Auditotapes -- Sears, D.
Added Author
Sears, David, 1948-1992. Interviewer
pd Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, 40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498 DAN/DGC
Research Call Number
*MGZTL 4-1529 [sound disc]
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