Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Elizabeth (Betsy) Coker 2021/ Conducted remotely by Diana Crum on February 21, 2021; Producer: Dance Oral History Project

Author

Coker, Elizabeth (Dancer)

Publication

2021

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Crum, Diana

Description

1 streaming video file (approximately 34 minutes) : sound, color. +

Summary

Streaming file, February 21, 2021 (approximately 34 minutes). Elizabeth (Betsy) Coker introduces herself and speaks about her dance practice, primarily as a faculty member at the Tisch School of the Arts; when she first became aware of COVID-19; her dance science research; the nature of the courses she has been teaching; the transition to teaching online; the return to teaching in person in the fall (of 2020); her relationship, as a member of academia, with the dance world; how spending so much time alone has affected her; how the Black Lives Matter movement protests affected her and her students; physical problems she has been experiencing in the last few months; the comfort and support she has found in her relationships with Crum and Jamie Scott; how the limitations imposed by the pandemic have resulted in her breaking out of old patterns, for example in conducting certain motion experiments; some observations about the students in the dance program, in particular their pre-matriculation training.

Alternative Title

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

Subject

• Coker, Elizabeth (Dancer) > Interviews
• COVID-19 (Disease) and the arts
• Black lives matter movement
• Dance teachers
• Social justice
• Dance > Study and teaching

Genre/Form

• Video recordings.
• Oral histories.

Note

• Interview with Elizabeth (Betsy) Coker (in New York, N.Y.) conducted remotely by Diana Crum (in New York, N.Y.) on February 21, 2021; 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 3-3608
• Sound quality is
• 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 only.

Access (note)

• Photography of the transcript permitted for research purposes.

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 3-3608

OCLC

1427380192

Author

Coker, Elizabeth (Dancer), Interviewee.

Title

Interview with Elizabeth (Betsy) Coker 2021/ Conducted remotely by Diana Crum on February 21, 2021; Producer: Dance Oral History Project

Imprint

2021

Playing Time

003400

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.

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 2021, February 21 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

Elizabeth (Betsy) Coker is a dancer, dance-maker, scientist, and teacher. She is Assistant Arts Professor of Dance at NYU/Tisch School of the Arts and co-Artistic Director of Seán Curran Company. Coker received her master's and doctorate degrees in Motor Learning and Control from Teachers College, Columbia University and holds a BA in Psychology (concentration in Dance) from Columbia University. Prior to initiating her academic career, she trained at the Washington Ballet and Ballet Nacional de Cuba. Coker's areas of research include postural control, motion capture technologies, and motor imagery in dancers. Her work has appeared in a variety of media including scientific journals, field publications, documentary film and radio. Additionally, she has taught, created and set choreography with students and professionals across the country as well as at the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, Opera de Montreal, San Diego Opera, Opera Lafayette, Great Lakes Chamber Music Festival, and Yale Repertory Theater. She directs the NYU/Tisch Dance Summer High School program, a 4-week contemporary dance and composition program for inspired young dance artists. (Biographical statement provided by the narrator in connection with this recording and reproduced here verbatim.)

Diana Crum is an artist working across practices, namely choreography, teaching and directing programs for the next generation. Her choreography has been commissioned by loveDANCEmore (Salt Lake City) and chashama (NYC) and presented in NYC at spaces including CPR - Center for Performance Research, Danspace Project (Draftworks, Movement Research Fall Festival), and ROULETTE, among others. It has also been presented in Atlanta, Virginia, Mexico, Germany, France, and Austria, among other places. Her work is informed by somatic studies and takes into account the site and community in which it happens. She currently serves as Chair of Dance at Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts, and a Teaching Artist throughout NYC and NJ. (Biographical statement provided by the interviewer in connection with this recording and reproduced here verbatim.)

Connect to:

Added Author

Crum, Diana, Interviewer.

Research Call Number

*MGZMT 3-3608

*MGZDOH 3608