TitleInterview with Ana Ricarda, 1979
NamesRicarda, Ana, 1918-2000 (Interviewee)Laakso, Wendy (Interviewer)
CollectionDance Oral History Project
Dates / OriginDate Created: 1979-05-01Date Created: 1979-05-02
Library locationsJerome Robbins Dance DivisionShelf locator: *MGZTCO 3-673
TopicsPons, Lily, 1898-1976Dolin, Anton, 1904-1983Argentinita, 1898-1945Ricarda, Ana, 1918-2000 -- InterviewsMetropolitan Opera (New York, N.Y.). BalletDoña Ines de Castro (Choreographic work : Ricarda)Tertulia; ou Les deux rivales (Choreographic work : Ricarda)Del amor y de la muerte (Choreographic work : Ricarda)
GenresOral historiesInterviews
NotesAdditional physical form: For transcript of interview, see *MGZMT 3-673.Bibliographic history: Title supplied by cataloger.Source characteristics: Sound quality is good except for the final approximate 15 minutes of streaming audio file 4. In this final section, the speakers' voices are soft and gradually become inaudible.Venue: Recorded for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts May 1 and 2, 1978 London (England)Funding: The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by 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 DescriptionAudiocassetteExtent: 2 audio cassettes (approximately 2 hr., 53 min.); quarter-track; 1.875 ips
DescriptionStreaming audio file 1 (approximately 47 minutes). May 1, 1978. Ana Ricarda speaks with Wendy Laakso about her interest in studying dance from the time she was a child; her early training with Minnie Hawke including Hawke's connection to Fanny Elssler; other teachers; visiting Spain with her father and seeing La Argentinita in Paris; various teachers and schools of classical Spanish dance; her memories of La Argentinita including as a teacher; World War II and her return to the United States where she studied with [Pierre] Vladimiroff and [Felia] Doubrovska; dancing with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York; her early choreography, for a Columbia Concerts Corporation touring production comprised of young singers and dancers from the Metropolitan Opera [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 2].
Streaming audio file 2 (approximately 48 minutes). Ana Ricarda speaks with Wendy Laakso about touring with the Metropolitan Opera in Canada including anecdotes about Lily Pons; compensation including the American Guild of Musical Artists' efforts to improve working conditions; dancing with the Markova-Dolin Ballet including how this resulted in problems with the union [American Guild of Musical Artists]; her gratitude to Sol Hurok for his help; the repertory; her impressions of Anton Dolin and Alicia Markova; her choreographic contributions to works in the repertory; more on Dolin and Markova; classes during the tour; dancing her own choreography on tour for Columbia Concerts Corporation; her preoccupation with creating a ballet [eventually, Del amor y de la muerte] inspired by the art of Francisco Goya; the Marquis [George] de Cuevas; Antonia Cobos; the circumstances through which the Marquis de Cuevas commissioned Del amor y de la muerte for his company [Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas; also Grand Ballet de Monte Carlo]; [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 3].
Streaming audio file 3 (approximately 48 minutes). May 2, 1978. Ana Ricarda speaks with Wendy Laakso about the Madame de Cuevas [Margaret Rockefeller Strong] including crediting her for the title of Ricarda's ballet Love and death [Del amor y de la muerte]; Ricarda's recital in Paris; Mathilde Kschessinska and her kindness to Ricarda; an anecdote about Kschessinska and Serge Lifar's Afternoon of a faun; staging her new ballet [Del amor y de la muerte] with the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas, with Tamara Toumanova and George Skibine in the lead roles; rehearsals; performing the ballet on tour in London including Skibine's great success; her work for the London Festival Ballet; [Jean] Babilée and his taking charge of the repertory of the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas' New York tour; more on Ricarda's work for Anton Dolin and the London Festival Ballet; the company's performing of Love and death in New York including the contentious negotiations with the Marquis de Cuevas and the work's critical and popular success; her dismissal from the company; staging Love and death for the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas in Paris; choreographing a new ballet, Doña Ines de Castro, for the company; her research trip to Spain and Portugal with Celia Hubbard, the set and costume designer, including how she found the composer, Joaquin Serra [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 4].
Streaming audio file 4 (approximately 30 minutes). Ana Ricarda speaks with Wendy Laakso about her ballet Doña Ines de Castro including her intent to create a medieval mood without creating a medieval-style dance; her ballet, Tertulia; ou Les deux rivales including the composer Manuel Infante and the source of the title Tertulia; the designer [José] Capuletti; the scenario; the set [from approximately 18 minutes into streaming audio file 4, the sound quality is very poor and the recording eventually becomes inaudible].
Type of ResourceSound recording
LanguagesEnglish
IdentifiersRLIN/OCLC: 80252201NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12118488Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 2aeee140-c254-0135-c1ef-00e5df9b890d
Rights StatementThe New York Public Library holds or manages the copyright(s) in this item. If you need information about reusing this item, please go to: http://nypl.org/permissions
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