Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Merle Armitage [sound recording].

Author

Armitage, Merle, 1893-1975.

Publication

1972.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• McDonagh, Don.
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Description

5 sound discs (ca. 111 min.) : digital, stereo; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Part one, disc 1 (ca. 32 min.). Merle Armitage speaks with Don McDonagh about the format of Martha Graham's early dances; the first time he encountered Graham, in vaudeville-like performances; how Graham would transform the atmosphere of the entire performance with her presence; Graham's dancing with Denishawn, and how he knew Ruth St. Denis; Louis Horst, and Graham's relationship with him; Graham's relationship with Erick Hawkins; Graham's early work, Primitive mysteries, and its Aztec, Mayan, and Mexican influences. McDonagh and Armitage discuss some of the early Graham dancers, and McDonagh discusses Merce Cunningham and his work with John Cage. Armitage provides anecdotes of times Graham spent with his family during the holidays. Armitage speaks about Graham's affection for Armitage's daughter, Chama; various friends and associates he and Graham shared; his years living in New Mexico, including a time when Graham came to visit and they attended a Zia Pueblo rain dance.
• Part one, disc 2 (ca. 31 min.). Merle Armitage speaks with Don McDonagh about various friends and associates of his and Graham's; Graham and Erick Hawkins, including Hawkins' physical attributes; his house in El Monte, Calif., including when Hawkins and Graham visited him there; various wives; how early on he recognized Graham's talent, despite the fact that he knew nothing about modern dance; Louis Horst's influence on Graham; Graham's temper; Graham's practice and exercise routines. Armitage and McDonagh talk about the people McDonagh sought out to find Armitage for the interview; Armitage describes when Graham danced with Stokowski [gap]; his partnership with Charles Wagner and working as touring opera producers; tours with Geraldine Farrar; various problems he and the touring companies encountered; collaborating with a socialite from Houston who produced operas in a Houston and tells an anecdote involving the touring train hitting a cow.
• Part two, disc 1 (ca. 32 min.). Merle Armitage speaks with Don McDonagh, continuing his story about the touring train hitting the cow; various opera tours and the successes; an ancedote about John McCormack and a tour in New Zealand; his often joining Graham on U.S. tours; theaters in the 1930s and 1940s and the acceptance of touring operas at that time; various opera tours he and Charles Wagner produced; struggling to get audiences interested in new performers, and how he and Wagner launched the career of Amelita Galli-Curci in the United States.
• Part two, disc 2 (ca. 32 min.). Merle Armitage speaks with Don McDonagh about the tours with Amelita Galli-Curci and the Chicago Lyric Opera; Graham and how she was received by U.S. audiences; Graham's demeanor prior to a show; Graham's clothing and costuming; the collaboration between the artist, Isamu Noguchi, and Graham [gap]; Graham's self-confidence; Armitage and McDonagh speak again about Louis Horst's collaborations with Graham; McDonagh relays a story to Armitage told by Sophie Maslow in which she describes the fact that Graham made no attempt to create flattering costumes for the dancers; Armitage and McDonagh speak about Graham dancers, Yuriko and Helen McGehee, and discuss the dance, Heretic; Stokowski and the work he did with Graham; Graham's interest in dramatic plays; restaurants he and Graham would frequent in New York City; Graham's style and hairstyle; his interest in the French modern art, and Graham's interest in art; the first time he saw Graham perform; Ruth St. Denis and the Denishawn company; Graham's loyalty to Denishawn; the last time he saw Graham perform.
• Part three (ca. 16 min.). [beginning of part three cut off] Merle Armitage speaks with Don McDonagh about the Diaghilev Ballet [Ballets Russes], and working for Otto Kahn to determine the possibility of touring in Switzerland; Kahn's funding the tour of the Diaghilev Ballet, and Armitage's publicizing the Russian ballet tour in the U.S.; his opinion of Diaghilev; Vaslaw Nijinsky's physical appearance; Nijinksky's relationship with Diaghilev; Nijinsky's wife, Romola; Lincoln Kirstein and his interaction with Romola and the writing of her book [The Diary of Vaslav Nijinsky]; McDonagh advises Armitage about Lincoln Kirstein's career and the work he did for and with the New York City Ballet; Armitage talks about his opinions of Lincoln Kirstein [tape ends abruptly].

Subjects

• Denishawn Dancers
• Wagner, Charles L
• Graham, Martha
• Martha Graham Dance Company
• Ballets russes
• Armitage, Merle, 1893-1975 > Interviews
• Nijinsky, Waslaw, 1890-1950
• Horst, Louis
• Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance
• Galli-Curci, Amelita, 1882-1963
• Hawkins, Erick
• Opera producers and directors
• Dance company tours
• McCormack, John, 1884-1945
• Primitive mysteries (Choreographic work : Graham)

Note

• Interview with Merle Armitage conducted by Don McDonagh on Feb. 6, 1972.
• Both the beginning and the end of the interview are cut off; each disc ends abruptly.
• Open as of August 22, 2012.

Funding (note)

• Recording was preserved through a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Source (note)

• Don McDonagh;

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2524

OCLC

262557812

Author

Armitage, Merle, 1893-1975. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Merle Armitage [sound recording].

Imprint

1972.

Funding

Recording was preserved through a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Local Note

Archive orig. : *MGZTCO 3-2524, nos. 1-3

Dubbing master : *MGZTD 4-2524, nos. 1-5

Source

Gift; Don McDonagh; 2007

Local Subject

Dance company tours.

Added Author

McDonagh, Don. Interviewer

McDonagh, Don. Donor

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2524 sound disc