Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Jennifer Way.

Author

Way, Jennifer.

Publication

2001.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Friedman, Jeff, 1956-
• Roth, Malachi.

Description

2 v. (96 l.); 30 cm.

Summary

• Sept. 10, 2001; p. 1-18 [corresponds to cassette 1, side A]. Jennifer Way speaks with Jeff Friedman about her childhood training in her mother's dance studio, teenage studies and brief time at Butler University, and her dance training at Ohio State University; her marriage to Tom Rawe, a classmate at Ohio State University; their attraction to the energy in performances of Twyla Tharp's company [Twyla Tharp and Dancers]; how Rawe joined the company and Way successfully auditioned two years later; the complex rhythmic phrasing of Tharp's choreography in relationship to musical rhythms; how she gained confidence as a performer; using The fugue in lecture-demonstrations to show the structure of Tharp's work.
• Sept. 10, 2001; p. 18-38 [corresponds to cassette 1, side B]. Jennifer Way speaks with Jeff Friedman further about her early life and encouragement from her parents; financial aspects of a life in dance; working on the movie Hair [1979; directed by Milos Foreman].
• Sept. 10, 2001; p. 38-46 [corresponds to cassette 2, side A; side B was intentionally left blank]. Jennifer Way speaks with Jeff Friedman about returning to Tharp's company to perform Tharp's work In the upper room, following the birth of her daughter and 18-month absence; struggle as the theme of that work.
• Sept. 14, 2001; p. 47-64 [corresponds to cassette 3, side A]. Following a discussion among Jeff Friedman, videographer Malachi Roth, and Jennifer Way of their shock and experiences relating to the 9/11 terrorist attack, which destroyed the World Trade Center, Jennifer Way speaks with Jeff Friedman about her childhood small town; involvement of her family in theater, music and the visual arts; her training in music; the importance of music study for all dancers; rhythmic and learning skills she expects of her students.
• Sept. 14, 2001; p. 65-81 [corresponds to cassette 3, side B]. Jennifer Way speaks with Jeff Friedman about Tharp's work The raggedy dances and its complexity; the word "program" in the company's vocabulary and what it means; how Tharp and dancers manipulated dance phrases in the studio; Way's discomfort with acting; creating Tharp's work The Catherine wheel; brief discussions of Sue's leg and Fait accompli; her mother's stroke and its effect on her maturity.
• Sept. 14, 2001; p. 82-96 [corresponds to cassette 4, side A; side B was intentionally left blank]. Jennifer Way speaks with Jeff Friedman about Tharp's intensive development of material in the studio over many weeks and months, during the early years of the company; the current sped-up process reflecting changes in Tharp's working method and a different funding environment; cuts in college and theatrical residencies; her pleasure in touring; influence of her children on career; the dissolution of Tharp's company; Way's current teaching and family life; contributions of Tom Rawe and Way to the company; connection between the first members and the larger, later group; passing on the knowledge.

Donor/Sponsor

Oral history archive.

Subject

• Way, Jennifer
• Rawe, Tom
• Tharp, Twyla
• Twyla Tharp and Dancers
• Catherine wheel (Choreographic work : Tharp)
• Fugue (Choreographic work : Tharp)
• In the upper room (Choreographic work : Tharp)
• Raggedy dances (Choreographic work : Tharp)

Note

• Typescript.
• Interview with Jennifer Way conducted by Jeff Friedman on Sept. 10 and Sept. 14, 2001 at the Gowanus Arts Exchange Studio in Brooklyn, N.Y. Malachi Roth, who is also present videotaping the interview, contributes to a discussion of the 9/11 terrorist attack in the section of the interview beginning on p. 47.

Access (note)

• Open as of March 19, 2009.
• Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Source (note)

• Jeff Friedman.

Call Number

*MGZMT 3-2568

OCLC

230820359

Author

Way, Jennifer. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Jennifer Way.

Imprint

2001.

Access

Open as of March 19, 2009.

Local Note

The summary of contents is organized based on the pagination of the transcript with the corresponding audio material noted. Cassette 1, which corresponds to pages 1-46 of the transcript, is not held by the Library. Neither the original audio recording nor the trancript of this interview were created by The New York Public Library for the Perfoming Arts.

The New York Public Library Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image holds a videocassette recording of this interview.

Restricted Access

Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Local Subject

Audiotapes -- Friedman, J.

Audiotapes -- Way, J.

Audiotapes -- Roth, M.

Added Author

Friedman, Jeff, 1956- Interviewer

Roth, Malachi. Videographer

Research Call Number

*MGZMT 3-2568 [transcript]