- Additional Authors
- Found In
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Description
- 1 streaming audio file (18 minutes) : digital, mono
- Summary
- Merce Cunningham speaks with Andrew McLennan to give a brief overview of his early training, especially his relationship to Martha Graham and her technique [background speaker noise until 0:30]; his early works with John Cage and their idea of separating the choreography from the music; the financial reasons for his early solos; briefly, the early years of his [Merce Cunningham Dance] Company, its small size and touring in a Volkswagon bus; more on the development of his early choreography, especially in relation to his teaching; his ideas on the purpose of dance technique; briefly, generations of dancers in his company; his perspective on being a dancer; his opinion of the qualities of a great dancer especially in relation to technique; [9:56-11:45, background whirring sound]; briefly, the influence of John Cage on his artistic practices; his intentions behind the movement sequencing in his choreography and Cunningham emphasizes the ways that his work differs from improvisation; his approach to working with composers and how this affects the choreography; [14:59-15:26, loud background sounds nearly obscure Cunningham's voice]; scenery and his choreography, including the Summerspace drop by Robert Rauschenberg; his interest in the layering of distinct artistic production elements; Cunningham lists some of the narrative ways audiences interpreted Winterbranch; his original intention behind the movements in Winterbranch: to explore what a person does when they are falling; more on human balance and falling.
- Alternative Title
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Subjects
- Genre/Form
- Interviews.
- Sound recordings.
- Note
- Title, date and location provided by cataloger based on audition and typed note on original container.
- Typed note on printed Australian Broadcasting Commission label on original container: "Merce Cunningham Interview: 1976 Adelaide Festival of Arts ; interviewed by Andrew McLennan ; begins: I studied ; ends: with people moving around".
- Interview with Merce Cunningham conducted by Andrew McLennan in 1976 for the Australian Broadcasting Commission. Related interviews, appeared on the Australian television program, This day tonight, can be found at the Library for the Performing Arts in *MGZIDVD 5-558. The recordings occurred during a week of performances by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company at the Sydney Opera House.
- Sound quality is uneven. At times, Merce Cunningham's voice is at a low volume level and he chews food during the middle of the recording session. In addition, there are occasional loud background noises and voices.
- Access (note)
- Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Source (note)
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation
- Linking Entry (note)
- Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Call Number
- *LT-7-A 2356
- OCLC
- 880675234
- Author
Cunningham, Merce, interviewee.
- Title
Interview with Merce Cunningham : Adelaide Festival of Arts, 1976-03.
- Production
[March], 1976.
- Playing Time
001816
- Type of Content
spoken word
- Type of Medium
audio
- Type of Carrier
audiotape reel
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
audio file
- Event
Recorded at the [Sydney Opera House] in, Sydney, Australia, 1976 [March].
- Original Version
Archival original: (1 audiotape reel (20 minutes) : analog, full track, mono ; 7 in.) in *LT-7-A 2356.
- Restricted Access
Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Linking Entry
Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Local Note
Transferred from original open tape reel by the New York Public Library's Audio and Moving Image Preservation (PAMI) sound engineering staff at the Library for the Performing Arts on January 16, 2014. To create the streaming file, the sound engineers edited out the recording silences in the preservation file, thus the discrepancies in length between the preservation file and the streaming file.
- Source
Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
McLennan, Andrew, interviewer.
Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Adelaide Festival
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, donor.
- Added Title
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Found In:
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Research Call Number
*LT-7-A 2356