Research Catalog
Interview with George Faison
- Title
- Interview with George Faison [videorecording] : / interviewer, Robert Greskovic.
- Publication
- c2009.
Items in the Library & Off-site
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2 Items
Status | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person. | Moving image | Use in library | *MGZIDVD 5-3958 | Performing Arts Research Collections - Dance |
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person. | Moving image | Supervised use | *MGZMT 3-3958 | Performing Arts Research Collections - Dance |
Details
- Additional Authors
- Description
- 1 videodisc (NTSC) (93 min.) : sd., col.; 4 3/4 in. +
- Summary
- George Faison (choreographer) speaks with Robert Greskovic about growing up in Washington, D.C.; attending Dunbar High School; studying dance at age 13 with Maryrose Allen and Carolyn Tate; the American Light Opera Company and members; his love of musical theatre; watching Ed Sullivan and dreaming; studying with Ethel Butler; spending time in Georgetown; studying at Howard University; seeing Alvin Ailey Dance Theater perform for the first time in 1964; how inspired he was by the Ailey performance; leaving Howard University to pursue dance in New York City; dancing for Arthur Mitchell at the Dance Theatre of Harlem; staying with relatives and commuting from Brooklyn into Manhattan; studying show dancing with June Taylor; dancing at the Harkness House; modern dance and jazz dance with Jack Cole; his hero, Jerome Robbins; dealing with the resistance and stigma that goes with being a black, male dancer; his love of moving through space, defying gravity, and pushing his aptitude to learn dance; his first job on television as Lauren Bacall's dance partner in the first integrated telling of dance history "ABC Stage 67"; learning to understand and know his body within a certain framework; understanding being centered; learning liturgical dance on Capitol Hill; the need for male dancers when he was starting out; joining HARYOU (Harlem Youth Opportunities Unlimited); touring as a company under Thelma Hill; auditioning for Alvin Ailey in 1967; cleaning houses to afford dance classes; 1976-1970 with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater; touring Europe; touring ten countries in Africa; how Africa affected him and the resulting piece "Gazelle"; about Alvin Ailey; finding expression outside of heritage and legacy dances; importance of his American musical heritage, his exposure to blues music, and his exposure to classical music; expressing one's self with only body and space; being unafraid to interpret anything; proposing "Gazelle" to Ailey; making his debut on Broadway in "Purlie"; gathering dancers, staging, and making costumes himself and presenting work as the George Faison Dance Ensemble (later became the George Faison Universal Dance Experience); "Suite Otis" premiering in 1971 at the Manhattan Theater Club; using his Broadway money to continue presenting his choreographic visions; keeping going as long as he could support himself; process of working on "The wiz" in 1974; "The wiz" as a stepping stone; his experiences on Broadway; touring with "The wiz"; creative motivation for "Suite Otis"; how "Suite Otis" has not changed except for the addition of the whistle from "Sitting on the dock of the bay"; how dancers have changed over time; his dedication to Thelma Hill; gathering different senses of discipline and harmony from playing the french horn; the importance of understanding how one fits both together and separate from the rest.
- Subjects
- Redding, Otis, -1967 > Influence
- Dance Theatre of Harlem
- Choreography
- George Faison Universal Dance Experience (Dance troupe)
- Hill, Thelma > Influence
- Robbins, Jerome > Influence
- Choreographers
- Video
- Interviews
- American Light Opera Company (Washington, D.C.)
- Dance
- Faison, George, 1945- > Interviews
- Ailey, Alvin > Influence
- Suite Otis (Choreographic work : Faison)
- Mitchell, Arthur, 1934- > Influence
- HARYOU (Organization)
- Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater
- Howard University
- Gazelle (Choreographic work : Faison)
- Genre/Form
- Dance.
- Video.
- Interviews.
- Access (note)
- Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.
- Credits (note)
- Director of photography, Penny Ward ; production assistant, Kay Hines ; editor, Kay Hines/Dekart Video.
- Event (note)
- This interview was videotaped at the oral history studio of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City on April 7, 2009.
- Funding (note)
- Recording made possible by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
- System Details (note)
- DVD, transferred from DVCAM cassette.
- Call Number
- *MGZIDVD 5-3958
- OCLC
- 320779782
- Title
- Interview with George Faison [videorecording] : / interviewer, Robert Greskovic.
- Imprint
- c2009.
- System Details
- DVD, transferred from DVCAM cassette.
- Event
- This interview was videotaped at the oral history studio of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City on April 7, 2009.
- Credits
- Director of photography, Penny Ward ; production assistant, Kay Hines ; editor, Kay Hines/Dekart Video.
- Performer
- Interviewee, George Faison.
- Funding
- Recording made possible by a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
- Restricted Access
- Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.
- Added Author
- Faison, George, 1945- interviewee.Greskovic, Robert. InterviewerWard, Penny, videographer.Hines, Kay, production personnel.Hines, Kay, editor of moving image work.New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Dance Collection.Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
- Research Call Number
- *MGZMT 3-3958