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Items Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers

Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers: May O'Donnell with Ray Green, Fourth Evening

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Library division & collection with this item:

LIBRARY DIVISION
Jerome Robbins Dance Division

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COLLECTION
Susan Hess Modern Dance Lecture Series Video Archive

This Item

Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers

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Title
Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers: May O'Donnell with Ray Green, Fourth Evening
Additional title: Recollections and Rare Films
Names
O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004 (Speaker)
Green, Ray, 1908-1997 (Speaker)
Hess, Susan (Host)
Powell, Alan (American artist, contemporary) (Videographer)
Hess, Susan (Project director)
Collection

Susan Hess Modern Dance Lecture Series Video Archive

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1983-05-20
Library locations
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Shelf locator: *MGZIDF 1464
Topics
O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004
Lectures and lecturing -- Pennsylvania -- Philadelphia
Green, Ray, 1908-1997
Green, Ray, 1908-1997. Dance energies
Graham, Martha
Limón, José
Suspension (Choreographic work : O'Donnell)
Bennington School of the Dance
Martha Graham Dance Company
Modern dance -- United States
Dance -- History -- 20th century
Dance teachers -- United States
Dance -- Study and teaching
Genres
Lectures
Notes
Content: Title from original video cassette label.
Content: Suspension film is not shown on this video.
Venue: Videotaped during talk at Hess studio in Philadelphia, Pa. 1983 May 20.
Acquisition: Gift; Susan Hess; 2010.
Physical Description
Videocassette
Extent: 1 videocassette (U-matic) (63 min.) : sound, color; 3/4 in.
Description
May O'Donnell discusses her early impressions of dance and her childhood in California; early 1930's modern dance scene in New York City; studying with Mary Wigman and Martha Graham; Graham sending her to Gertrude Shurr's class to prepare her for joining the Martha Graham Dance Company; her search for basics in the works, Primitive Mysteries, Primitive Canticles, and Ceremonials; touring with Graham in her first tour of 1937, and continuing to dance with Graham for 6 years; 1930's social scene and political aspects; how Bennington Dance Program was the beginning of modern dance in the U.S.; meeting Ray Green in San Francisco; her first dance, Of Pioneer Women, with Ray Green's score; O'Donnell and Green starting their first dance studio in San Francisco; she talks about early dance concerts with Ray Green's music; meeting José Limón and working with him for two years on tours up and down the California coast; creation of O'Donnell's work, Suspension; returning to NYC after the attack on Pearl Harbor; being asked to dance in Graham's company with more featured dramatic roles including the pioneer woman in Appalacian Spring; leaving Graham company in the early 1950's; having great dancers in her own company including Robert Joffrey and Gerald Arpino; how the 1950's were a fullfilling time for her; and Susan Hess concludes the talk with brief comments.
Type of Resource
Moving image
Languages
English
Identifiers
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b20256344
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 1bd79950-3136-0132-adb8-3c075448cc4b
Rights Statement
The 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

  • 1906: Creator Born
  • 1983: Created
  • 2004: Creator Died
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1983. https://qa-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/1d7c50a0-3136-0132-a284-3c075448cc4b

Chicago/Turabian Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed November 22, 2024. https://qa-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/1d7c50a0-3136-0132-a284-3c075448cc4b

APA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. (1983). Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers Retrieved from https://qa-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/1d7c50a0-3136-0132-a284-3c075448cc4b

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://qa-digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/1d7c50a0-3136-0132-a284-3c075448cc4b | title= (moving image) Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers, (1983)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=November 22, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Five Evenings with American Dance Pioneers