TitleInterview with Glen Tetley, January 11, 17, and 25, 1977 and May 6 and 8, and June 6 and 8, 1978
NamesTetley, Glen (Interviewee)Nuchtern, Jean (Interviewee)
CollectionDance Oral History Project
Dates / OriginDate Created: 1977-01-11Date Created: 1977-01-17Date Created: 1977-01-25Date Created: 1978-05-06Date Created: 1978-05-08Date Created: 1978-06-06Date Created: 1978-06-08
Library locationsJerome Robbins Dance DivisionShelf locator: *MGZT 5-680 (former)
TopicsBaryshnikov, Mikhail, 1948-Graham, MarthaMessiaen, Olivier, 1908-1992Butler, John, 1920-1993Holm, Hanya, 1893-1992Tetley, Glen -- InterviewsAmerican Ballet TheatreNederlands Dans TheaterStuttgarter BallettBallet RambertEmbattled garden (Choreographic work : Graham)Clytemnestra (Choreographic work : Graham)Anatomy lesson (Choreographic work : Tetley)Sargasso (Choreographic work : Tetley)Pierrot lunaire (Choreographic work : Tetley)Birds of sorrow (Choreographic work : Tetley)How many miles to Babylon (Choreographic work : Tetley)Mythical hunters (Choreographic work : Tetley)Ricercare (Choreographic work : Tetley)Ziggurat (Choreographic work : Tetley)Embrace tiger and return to mountain (Choreographic work : Tetley)Circles (Choreographic work : Tetley)Imaginary film (Choreographic work : Tetley)Threshold (Choreographic work : Tetley)Mutations (Choreographic work : Manen and Tetley)Field figures (Choreographic work : Tetley)Small parades (Choreographic work : Tetley)Laborintus (Choreographic work : Tetley)Gemini (Choreographic work : Tetley)Rag dances (Choreographic work : Tetley)Wandelbare Gärten (Choreographic work : Tetley)Rite of spring (Choreographic work : Tetley)Voluntaries (Choreographic work : Tetley)Sphinx (Choreographic work : Tetley)Praeludium (Choreographic work : Tetley)
GenresOral historiesInterviews
NotesBibliographic history: Title supplied by cataloger.Source characteristics: Sound quality is fair to good overall. The recording is marred by extraneous noise including "tape hiss" and occasional short gaps but the speakers' voices are easily intelligible.Venue: Recorded for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts January 11, 17, and 25, 1977 and May 6 and 8 and June 6 and 8, 1978 New York (N.Y.)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 DescriptionAudiotape reelExtent: 5 audiotape reels (approximately 14 hr., 56 min.) : analog, 1.875 ips, half-track, polyester; 5 in.
DescriptionStreaming file 1 (approximately one hour and 39 minutes), January 11, 1977. Glen Tetley speaks with Jean Nuchtern about his background; being hired by Jerome Robbins for the musical comedy On the town; his years as Hanya Holm's student and assistant; Holm's working methods; his study of ballet, with Margaret Craske and Pierre Vladimiroff among others; working for various choreographers including Anna Sokolow, Pauline Koner, and Antony Tudor; his work in television for John Butler including Gian Carlo Menotti's Amahl and the night visitors; his classes with Martha Graham; working with John Butler including his performing with Mary Hinkson; touring with Robert Joffrey's company [the Robert Joffrey Theatre Ballet]; returning to New York and classes with Graham; Graham's Embattled garden; her work Clytemnestra, in particular the epilogue; his relationship with Graham; his solo in Agnes de Mille's Juno and the paycock; Graham's advice to him about his career; joining Ballet Theatre [now American Ballet Theatre]; some of his roles and dancers who helped him including Erik Bruhn and Nora Kaye; his thoughts on Tudor and transgression in Lilac garden and Pillar of fire; Birgit Cullberg and her work; performing Michel Fokine's ballet Bluebeard in Russia [the former Soviet Union]; [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 2].
Streaming file 2 (approximately one hour and 39 minutes), January 11 and 17, 1977. Glen Tetley continues to speak with Jean Nuchtern about Ballet Theatre's tour in the Soviet Union; joining Ballets: U.S.A. and working with Jerome Robbins; Paul Taylor including his relationship with Martha Graham; more on Graham's Embattled garden including the personal tensions it created in the company [January 11, 1977 session ends and January 17, 1977 session begins]; Graham's epilogue to Clytemnestra; Tetley's own choreography; creating and producing his first concert program: Pierrot lunaire; Birds of sorrow; How many miles to Babylon; and Gleams in the bone house; the critical reception; subsequent performances of Pierrot lunaire and Birds of sorrow; Benjamin Harkavy and the Nederlands Dans Theater [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 3].
Streaming file 3 (approximately one hour and 39 minutes), January 17 and 25, 1977. Glen Tetley speaks with Jean Nuchtern about working with the Nederlands Dans Theater as a choreographer and as a dancer; his works The anatomy lesson; Sargasso; working with Sallie Wilson in Sargasso at American Ballet Theatre; working with the Batsheva Dance Company [Lahaḳat ha-maḥol Bat-Shevaʻ] in Israel, including his choreographing of Mythical hunters; returning to New York and choreographing Ricercare for American Ballet Theatre; creating his own company [Glen Tetley Dance Company]; working with Ballet Rambert including his staging of Pierrot lunaire on the company; his impressions of Marie Rambert; [January 17 session ends and January 25 session begins]; Tetley continues to speak with Jean Nuchtern about working with Ballet Rambert [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 4].
Streaming file 4 (approximately one hour and 39 minutes), January 25, 1977. Glen Tetley continues to speak with Jean Nuchtern about working with Ballet Rambert; performances by own company in the United States of old and new works including Chronochromie at the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival; an anecdote about Ted Shawn's criticism of Tetley's work and Martha Graham's response; new works including Fieldmass; Tehilim; Ziggurat; Arena; and Embrace tiger and return to mountain; the designer Nadine Baylis; his work Circles; choreographing Freefall for the Dance Repertory Theatre [University of Utah]; touring with his company in Europe; disbanding his company and becoming co-director of the Nederlands Dans Theater; his conflicts with the company; his new work for the company, Imaginary film; his work Threshold; his and Hans [van Manen's] resignation from Nederlands Dans Theater; Mutations, their final commission for the company [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 5].
Streaming file 5 (approximately one hour and 39 minutes), January 25, 1977 and May 6, 1978. Glen Tetley continues to speak with Jean Nuchtern about his time with Nederlands Dans Theater and his (and Hans van Manen's) work Mutations including the impact of the use of nudity; [January 25, 1977 session ends and May 6, 1978 session begins]; Tetley speaks about his career following his resignation from the Nederlands Dance Theater including choreographing a complete version of [Olivier] Messiaen's Chronochromie for the Hamburg Staatsoper Ballett; choreographing his work Field figures for the Royal Ballet including anecdotes about Marie Rambert and the British royal family; its performance in New York City with Rudolf Nureyev; Small parades, his next work for the Nederlands Dans Theater; his work Laborintus, for the Royal Ballet; [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 6].
Streaming file 6 (approximately one hour and 39 minutes), May 6 and 8, 1978. Glen Tetley speaks with Jean Nuchtern about his commission for the Australian National Ballet, resulting in his work Gemini; his work Rag dances for Ballet Rambert, including the last minute substitution of a new score due to Olivier Messiaen's refusal to permit the use of his Quartet for the end of time [Quatuor pour la fin du temps]; meeting John Cranko, in Munich; staging Mythical hunters for the junior company of the Stuttgarter Ballett and Pierrot lunaire for the ballet company in Munich [Bayerisches Staatsoper Ballett]; distinguishing Graham technique from Graham movement vocabulary; [end of May 6, 1978 session and beginning of May 8, 1978 session]; his new work Der Wandelbare Gärten, for the Tanz-Forum, Cologne; choreographing Rite of spring [for the Bayerishes Staatsoper Ballett]; [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 7].
Streaming file 7, May 8, 1978 (approximately one hour and 36 minutes), May 8 and June 6, 1978. Glen Tetley speaks with Jean Nuchtern about his work Rite of spring, including working with Mikhail Baryshnikov; creating Voluntaries for the Stuttgarter Ballett after John Cranko's death; creating Stränder for the Norwegian Ballet [Den Norske Opera Ballet]; accepting the position of director of the Stuttgarter Ballett; [May 8 session ends and June 6 session begins]; his time as the director of the Stuttgarter Ballett including the challenges of being Cranko's successor [ends suddenly but continues on streaming file 8].
Streaming file 8, June 6, 1978 (approximately one hour and 36 minutes). Glen Tetley continues to speak with Jean Nuchtern about his time as the director of the Stuttgarter Ballett including the creation of his Daphnis and Chloe; various problems and the circumstances that led to his leaving the company; Mikhail Baryshnikov; working with American Ballet Theatre including his staging of Rite of spring and Voluntaries; his work Sphinx [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 9].
Streaming file 9, June 6 and 8, 1978 (approximately one hour and 36 minutes). Glen Tetley speaks with Jean Nuchtern further about his leaving the Stuttgarter Ballett and returning to New York City and American Ballet Theatre; his work Sphinx; [June 6 session ends, and June 8 session begins]; his thoughts on his own choreography, including the influence of Antony Tudor and Martha Graham; more on working with American Ballet Theatre including his work Sphinx; his new work Praeludium for Ballet Rambert; more on his own choreography and choreographic process; his upcoming project for the Royal Danish Ballet [Kongelige Danske ballet]; his work in progress, The tempest; differences in the reception of his work depending on the country and the critic [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 10].
Streaming file 10, June 8, 1978 (approximately 14 minutes). Glen Tetley speaks with Jean Nuchtern about critical reception of his work.
Type of ResourceSound recording
LanguagesEnglish
IdentifiersRLIN/OCLC: 81347621 NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12118528Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 486624c0-b30b-0133-ad82-3c07547a230f
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.
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