Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Carmen Mathé, 2020 / Conducted remotely by Marina Harss on October 8, 2020; Producer: Dance Oral History Project and the Cecchetti Heritage Project

Author

Mathé, Carmen, 1938-

Publication

2020

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Harss, Marina
• New York Theatre Ballet.

Description

1 streaming video file (approximately one hour and 33 minutes) : sound, color. +

Summary

Streaming file, October 8, 2020 (approximately one hour and 33 minutes). Carmen Mathé speaks with Marina Harss about being born in Dundee, Scotland and moving to England as a child; her study of dance at a vocational boarding school in England from age 8 until 15; at age 15 moving to London where she studied ballet for two years at the London School, King Park; the dual training at the school: technique taught per the RAD (Royal Academy of Dance) syllabus and technique taught per the Cecchetti method; finding the Cecchetti technique classes more difficult than the RAD classes; in 1956 joining the Marquis de Cuevas ballet company [Grand Ballet de Monte Carlo] in Paris; when the company folded in 1961, traveling to New York City and taking class with Margaret Craske at the Metropolitan Opera; joining New York City Ballet; the enormous difference between the technique George Balanchine taught and the training she had had including an example with respect to lifting one's heels; after six months, thanking Balanchine and asking to leave the company; his gracious response; how Craske taught the Cecchetti method including as contrasted with how it was taught to Mathé in England; Craske's practice of having a student repeat an exercise until it was done correctly; Craske's sense of humor including her use of wit to soften a correction; joining Ballet Theatre (later American Ballet Theatre) where she was much happier [than at New York City Ballet]; Craske's offering of individual corrections after class; Craske's particularness about the music used in class; an anecdote about Craske and a student, Rita [no last name given], whom Craske said looked as if she were "at a funeral"; why Craske had the students do grand battements near the beginning of a class rather than at the end [short interruption due to technical problem]; Craske's view that (verbal) explanations should be brief; Craske's mentioning of Enrico Cecchetti in class only rarely if at all; Craske's approach to teaching port de bras including exercises from the [Cecchetti] syllabus; Craske's gift for teaching children; frap̌ps as taught in Craske's class; Craske's practice of working with a student's natural turnout and extension and her emphasis on natural, unexaggerated movement; Craske's teaching that a spring (as opposed to a slide) should precede a relevé that there is a correct level of spring; more on how Craske taught port de bras; the importance of rhythm in Craske's classes; learning how to do pirouettes on quartre-pointe; how Craske taught jumping, beginning with small jumps at the barre; Matȟ describes the "Friday step", a complex and difficult petit allegro combination; Craske's use of Cecchetti's adagios in class; their length and difficulty; Craske's helping her with the balances in the Rose adagio (in The sleeping beauty), when she danced it for the first time in New York; Craske's preference for a "soft knee"; Craske's unique quality: her outstanding knowledge of the [Cecchetti] technique; an anecdote about how Craske would address her student Rita as "Dracula".

Alternative Title

• Cecchetti Heritage Project
• Dance Oral History Project.
• Dance Audio Archive.

Subject

• Mathé, Carmen, 1938- > Interviewee
• Cecchetti, Enrico, 1850-1928
• Craske, Margaret
• Balanchine, George
• Royal Academy of Dance (Great Britain)
• Ballet > Study and teaching
• Ballet dancing
• Dance teachers
• Sound recordings

Genre/Form

Oral histories.

Note

• This interview is part of the Cecchetti Heritage Project, a collaboration between Diana Byer, Jean Volpe, and Matthew Nash, and the Dance Oral History Project of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. For the Cecchetti Heritage Project, selected dancers recounted their memories of studying with ballet teacher Margaret Craske. A student of Enrico Cecchetti, Miss Craske taught Cecchetti's technique to generations of dancers at American Ballet Theater (late 1940s), Metropolitan Opera Ballet School (1950-1966), the Juilliard School, Jacob's Pillow, and the Manhattan School of Dance (1968-1983).
• Interview with Carmen Mathé (in Galveston, Texas) conducted remotely by Marina Harss (in Lynchburg, Virginia) on October 8, 2020 for the Dance Oral History Project of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and the Cecchetti Heritage Project.
• For transcript see *MGZMT 3-3552
• Sound quality is good overall.
• The video recording of this interview can be made available at the Library for the Performing Arts by advanced request to the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, dance@nypl.org. The video files for this interview are undergoing processing and eventually will be available for streaming.
• Title supplied by cataloger.

Access (note)

• Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Call Number

*MGZMT 3-3552

OCLC

1395566816

Author

Mathé, Carmen, 1938- Interviewee.

Title

Interview with Carmen Mathé, 2020 / Conducted remotely by Marina Harss on October 8, 2020; Producer: Dance Oral History Project and the Cecchetti Heritage Project

Imprint

2020

Playing Time

013300

Type of Content

spoken word

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

audio

Type of Carrier

online resource

volume

Digital File Characteristics

audio file

Restricted Access

Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Event

Recorded for for the Dance Oral History Project of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, and the Cecchetti Heritage Project 2020, October 8 Galveston (Tex.) and Lynchburg (Va.)

Connect to:

Added Author

Harss, Marina, Interviewer.

New York Theatre Ballet.

Research Call Number

*MGZMT 3-3552

*MGZDOH 3552