- Additional Authors
- Found In
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Description
- 1 streaming audio file (46 minutes) : digital, stereo
- Summary
- Begins abruptly, Marianne Preger-Simon speaks with David Vaughan about meeting Merce Cunningham and seeing him perform in Paris during the spring of 1949; her role in introducing Cunningham with Jacqueline Levant and his teaching master classes at Levant's dance studio; Preger-Simon speaks about returning to New York in the fall of 1949 and being Cunningham's first student, and only student, for several weeks; Preger-Simon speaks about Rag-time parade (1950), composed for the beginner students, and their going with Cunningham to thrift shops for the costumes; how Cunningham tailored parts for each performer; briefly, being in the chorus of Noces (1952); the eventual combining of Cunningham's beginners class, students that he solely trained, with his more advanced class consisting of students who had trained with other teachers and choreographers; an anecdote on Paul Taylor's arrival to the class; they name the original cast of Noces performed at Brandeis University; Vaughan tells an anecdote about Naima Prevots; Preger-Simon briefly speaks about going with Cunningham and his [Merce Cunningham Dance] Company to her first summer at Black Mountain College in 1953; Preger-Simon recalls Cunningham's technique classes including an anecdote on how Cunningham classes started standing rather than on the floor; Vaughan tells an anecdote about a Cunningham exercise that changed over time; early dances that used chance methods and Preger-Simon's awareness of Cunningham's use of chance; Cunningham's preparedness for rehearsals, including his knowledge of his dancers and their strengths; Preger-Simon recalls Cunningham speaking of Viola Farber's dance qualities and shaping material for her; Joanne Melsher and her unusual qualities as a dancer; they discuss how Cunningham would demonstrate every movement in those years and Vaughan tells an anecdote about Cunningham verbally relaying Farber's part to her in Walkaround time (1968); Preger-Simon speaks about the ways that Cunningham was a remarkable teacher, especially in his sensitivity to his students; Preger-Simon tells an anecdote on Cunningham encouraging her to try in difficult moments; Cunningham's silence about the meaning of his works and how the dancers would discuss their own ideas about meanings with one another; how the dancers enjoyed wearing skirts in Banjo (1953) after wearing leotards and tights as costumes; briefly, costume designers including Remy Charlip; Galaxy (1956) and how each dancer corresponded with an element; Vaughan's first impressions of Sixteen dances for soloist and company of three (1951); they briefly discuss Two step (1949) and Monkey dances (1948); Nocturnes (1956) and the relationship of the dancers' parts to the music; Preger-Simon speaks about the Company's first tours using a Volkswagon microbus, including an anecdote on eating mushrooms that John Cage had foraged by the side of the road; the family-like relationship of the Company; the California tour of 1956, including joining AGMA [American Guild of Musical Artists] and some of the places they lodged; visiting Cunningham's mother in Washington state and Cunningham demonstrating some of the tap dancing he had learned as a child; ends abruptly.
- Alternative Title
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Subjects
- Genre/Form
- Interviews.
- Sound recordings.
- Note
- David Vaughan interviews Marianne Preger-Simon in New York, New York, on March 27, 1983. This interview was created as research for David Vaughan's book, Merce Cunningham: Fifty years (New York, Aperture).
- Title, date and location provided by cataloger based on audition and handwritten note on original container.
- Handwritten note on original container: "1. Interview with Nina Fonaroff, London 30 July 1980 ; 2. Interview with Marianne [Preger-]Simon, New York 27 March 1983".
- Sound quality is good.
- Donor's inventory number: C373.
- Contains side 2 of the archival original cassette.
- 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
- *LTC-A 1196
- OCLC
- 913795115
- Author
Preger-Simon, Marianne, 1929- interviewee.
- Title
Interview with Marianne Preger-Simon, 1983-03-27.
- Production
March 27, 1983.
- Playing Time
004615
- Type of Content
spoken word
- Type of Medium
audio
- Type of Carrier
audiocassette
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
audio file
- Event
Recorded in, New York, New York, 1983 March 27.
- Restricted Access
Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Original Version
Archival original: (1 audio cassette (93 minutes) : analog) in *LTC-A 1196.
- Linking Entry
Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Local Note
Transferred from original analog cassette by the Merce Cunningham Dance Company; two preservation files were created based on the cassette sides: C373a, and, C373b. The sound quality of these files are very poor and the content is partially inaudible.
Re-transferred from original analog cassette, (due to the poor sound quality), by the New York Public Library's Audio and Moving Image Preservation (PAMI) sound engineering staff at the Library for the Performing Arts on April 14 and 16, 2015; two preservation files were created based on cassette sides: myh_ltca1196_v01f01_pm, and, myh_ltca1196_v01f02_pm.
- Source
Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Vaughan, David, 1924- interviewer.
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, donor.
- Added Title
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Found In:
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Research Call Number
*LTC-A 1196