TitleLecture-demonstration: The art of choreography, 1951
NamesHumphrey, Doris, 1895-1958 (Creator)Sadoff, Simon (Performer)Jones, Betty, 1926- (Performer)Terry, Walter (Host)Dance Laboratory (Contributor)
CollectionDance Audio Archive
Dates / OriginDate Created: 1951-01-07
Library locationsJerome Robbins Dance DivisionShelf locator: *MGZMT 3-1275 [Transcript]Shelf locator: *MGZTCO 3-1275 [Cassette]
TopicsHumphrey, Doris, 1895-1958Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías (Choreographic work : Humphrey)Day on earth (Choreographic work : Humphrey)Malinche (Choreographic work : Limón)Moor's pavane (Choreographic work : Limón)Choreography
GenresInterviewsLectures
NotesContent: Title supplied by cataloger.Venue: Recorded for Walter Terry 1951 New York (N.Y.)Funding: The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the Barbara Goldstein Conservation Division of The New York Public Library and the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.
Physical DescriptionAudiotape reelExtent: 2 audiotape reels (approximately 1 hr., 17 min.) : polyester, half-track, 7.5 ips. ; 5 in.Sound quality is fair. For the most part, the speakers' voices are easily intelligible. However, the recording is marred by occasional gaps, and there is some distortion in the sound.
DescriptionLecture-demonstration recorded on January 7, 1951, with Walter Terry as host and moderator and Doris Humphrey as guest lecturer. This is the fourth program in the 1950-1951 season of Walter Terry's series, Dance laboratory, held at the 92nd Street Y (New York, N.Y.). The season consisted of eight "Open interviews" on the art of choreography. Doris Humphrey is assisted in the dance demonstrations by José Limón and others including Ruth Currier, and Lucas Hoving as dancers, Betty Jones as a dancer and as a singer, and Simon Sadoff as a commentator and as a pianist.
Streaming file 1 (approximately 56 minutes). Walter Terry introduces Doris Humphrey and her topic, the art of choreography; Doris Humphrey [with occasional comments and questions from Terry] speaks about the art of choreography including the historical lack of a formulated theory of choreography; ways in which a theory of choreography might be helpful for aspiring choreographers; the spatial, rhythmic, and dynamic principles underlying her own choreography and the vocabulary of gestures; her work Lament for Ignacio Sánchez Mejías [excerpts of which Humphrey, with the assistance of José Limón, demonstrates to illustrate principles she has just outlined]; dynamics and choice of movement [a study in dynamics is demonstrated by Betty (Jones) and Ruth (Currier)]; the process of choice of movement and its relation to choreographic ideas; breath rhythm and metric rhythm; gestures and her work Day on earth [Humphrey, with the assistance of Limón and Lucas Hoving, demonstrates gestures from this dance]; rhythm studies [an excerpt from Humphrey's New dance is performed to percussion accompaniment, following which Terry introduces the second part of the program]. Humphrey speaks about an excerpt from her work Day on earth; Simon [Sadoff] speaks about the music [Aaron Copland's Piano sonata] used for this work; Humphrey speaks about the music [the excerpt is performed to Sadoff's piano accompaniment]; Humphrey speaks about the combination of poetry (by Federico Garcia Lorca) and dance in Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Mejías [an excerpt from this dance is performed solely with musical accompaniment followed by the performance of an excerpt with musical and spoken word accompaniment; recording ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 2].
Streaming file 2 (approximately 21 minutes). [Continuation of performance of excerpt from Doris Humphrey's Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Mejías with musical and spoken word accompaniment]; Humphrey speaks about the relationship between the text and movement in the excerpt just performed; [dance demonstration intended to illustrate breath rhythms]; Humphrey speaks about two excerpts from José Limón's La malinche [the excerpts, with a brief break and commentary by Humphrey between them, are danced to music by Norman Lloyd, sung by Betty Jones]; Humphrey speaks about two excerpts of Limón's Moor's pavane [the excerpts, with a brief break and commentary by Humphrey between them, are performed to music by Henry Purcell, arranged by Simon Sadoff]; [final approximate 2:00 of the recording consists of applause and other ambient noise].
Type of ResourceSound recording
LanguagesEnglish
IdentifiersRLIN/OCLC: 43744369NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12117281Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 05321010-b294-0133-f723-60f81dd2b63c
Rights StatementThe copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by The New York Public Library, but we were unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.
Item timeline of events
-
-
-
-
-
