Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Rachel Cohen, 2020/ Conducted remotely by Anabella Lenzu on September 7, 2020; Producer: Dance Oral History Project

Author

Cohen, Rachel

Publication

2020

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Lenzu, Anabella

Description

1 streaming video file (approximately 39 minutes) : sound, color. +

Summary

Streaming file, September 7, 2020 (approximately 39 minutes). Anabella Lenzu introduces herself; Rachel Cohen introduces herself; they speak about how they know each other; Cohen speaks about how difficult it has been to maintain her creativity not only because of the COVID-19 pandemic but also because of her mother's recent death; her participation in the online Performance Mix Festival and making of collages with materials left by her mother; trying with the members of her company (Racoco) to figure out what comes next; performing on ZOOM including the emptiness she felt due to the absence of a connection with the audience; Lenzu speaks about where and how she has been performing since the pandemic began including how she feels about dancing for a virtual audience; Cohen speaks about how regrettably her relationship with her company members has grown distant since the pandemic; staying in touch with some of the members through teaching an online weekly class in action theater; also using technology to reconnect with people from all over; how and why the pandemic has caused her to question her identity as an artist, in particular her relation to the artistic community; Lenzu speaks about the shock of being suddenly unemployed; drawing on her 30 years experience as a dance teacher to create a mentorship program with four-month-long workshops; Cohen speaks about teaching online including some of its positive and negative aspects; Lenzu speaks about teaching online; her plans to perform on film an in-person show that was canceled; Cohen speaks about why she does not foresee any live performances by her company in the near future; her considering the possibilities for (live) solo performances; Lenzu speaks about why she is not currently contemplating live performances and consequently plans to focus on performing and teaching online; Cohen speaks about the uncertainties she is feeling with respect to when and how to resume performing; her sense that she is currently blank and waiting for inspiration; conversely, her feeling of excitement that once inspired she could move in any direction; Lenzu speaks about recovering from reverses in life.

Alternative Title

• Dance Oral History Project.
• COVID-19 Dance Worker Narratives Project
• Dance Audio Archive.

Subject

• Cohen, Rachel > Interviews
• COVID-19 (Disease) and the arts
• Dance teachers

Genre/Form

• Video recordings.
• Oral histories.

Note

• Interview with Rachel Cohen (in New York, N.Y.) conducted remotely by Anabella Lenzu (in New York, N.Y.) on September 7, 2020; as part of the COVID-19 Dance Worker Narratives Project for the Dance Oral History Project of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
• This interview is part of the COVID-19 Dance Worker Narratives Project, which was created by the Jerome Robbins Dance Division's Oral History Project in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and concurrent Black Lives Matter protests. The COVID-19 Dance Worker Narratives Project comprises 58 peer-to-peer interviews that were gathered from May 2020 to February 2022 from dance communities in New York City and across the United States.
• For transcript see *MGZMT 3-3607
• Sound quality is excellent.
• 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)

• Photography of the transcript permitted for research purposes only.

Funding (note)

• The processing of the COVID-19 Dance Workers Narratives Project was made possible by a grant from The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Call Number

*MGZMT 3-3607

OCLC

1427199399

Author

Cohen, Rachel, Interviewee.

Title

Interview with Rachel Cohen, 2020/ Conducted remotely by Anabella Lenzu on September 7, 2020; Producer: Dance Oral History Project

Imprint

2020

Playing Time

003900

Type of Content

spoken word

two-dimensional moving image

text

Type of Medium

unmediated

video

computer

Type of Carrier

online resource

volume

Digital File Characteristics

video file

Restricted Access

Photography of the transcript permitted for research purposes only.

Event

Recorded for the Dance Oral History Project of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, as part of the COVID-19 Dance Worker Narratives Project 2020, September 7 New York, N.Y.

Funding

The processing of the COVID-19 Dance Workers Narratives Project was made possible by a grant from The Gladys Krieble Delmas Foundation.

Local Note

Rachel Cohen studied choreography with Claire Mallardi at Harvard University, and moved to New York City in 1997, studying dance with Mary Anthony and Carolyn Lord. She is a certified teacher of Ruth Zaporah's Action Theater improvisation. She has performed with Nadine Sures, Sarah Bild/ Susanna Hood, Theodora Skipitares, Christopher Caines, Julie Atlas Muz, Ariane Anthony, Le Min Tam, Shua Group, Mary Anthony, Rika Burnham, and Fiona Templeton, and choreographed for Olek, Chelsea Knight, Christine Jowers/Moving Arts Projects, and Peculiar Works. In 2003 Rachel founded Racoco, which fuses raw materials, absurdist visuals, and quixotic choreography, and burlesque offshoot Racoco + the It Girls. Racoco has performed in the US, Czech Republic, England, France, Poland, and India. Rachel is an affiliate of The Construction Company, has been artist in residence at Harvard University; Santa Fe Arts Institute; Galapagos Art Space and Cave in Brooklyn, NY; Mix-Arte Myrys in Toulouse, France; and The Sanskriti Foundation in Delhi, India, and has been awarded grants from New Music USA, the Mid-Atlantic Arts Foundation US Arts International, Meet the Composer/Creative Connections, Live Music for Dance/American Music Center, NYFA, the Field Dance Fund, The Foundation for Contemporary Arts Emergency Fund, and NYC Department of Cultural Affairs. (Biographical statement provided by the narrator in connection with this recording and reproduced here verbatim.)

Anabella Lenzu: Originally from Argentina, Anabella Lenzu is a dancer, choreographer, writer and teacher with over 30 years experience working in Argentina, Chile, Italy, London and the USA.Lenzu directs her own company, Anabella Lenzu/DanceDrama (ALDD), which since 2006 has presented 390 performances, created 14 choreographic works and performed at 100 venues, presenting thought provoking and historically conscious dance-theater in NYC.Lenzu has written for various dance and arts magazines, and published her first book in 2013, entitled Unveiling Motion and Emotion. Her second book, Teaching Dance through Meaningful Gestures, is expected in 2020.Currently, Lenzu conducts classes at NYU Gallatin, Wagner College, Peridance Center, and is Artist-in-Residence at CUNY Dance Initiative, 2019-2020. (Biographical statement provided by the interviewer in connection with this recording and reproduced here verbatim.)

Connect to:

Added Author

Lenzu, Anabella, Interviewer.

Research Call Number

*MGZMT 3-3607

*MGZDOH 3607