Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. July 24, 1972, 1972.

Author

Sibley, Antoinette

Publication

1972

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Gruen, John
• Dowell, Anthony

Description

2 sound discs (approximately 54 minutes): digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1, approximately 48 minutes. [Begins abruptly.] John Gruen speaks with Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell about their careers at the Royal Ballet, beginning with an anecdote about [Bronislava] Nijinska and Sibley's cat; Sibley and Dowell speak about Frederick Ashton's The dream, in which they danced together for the first time; their birthplaces and their early dance training; Dowell's joining the Royal Ballet in 1961; Sibley's joining the company in 1956; her first major roles, in Balanchine's Ballet Imperial and in Coppélia; Romeo as Dowell's first major role in a three-act ballet [Kenneth MacMillan's Romeo and Juliet]; the difficulties of a ballet dancer's life including the lack of time for anything else and anxiety; reasons their partnership is successful; Sibley's marriage to Michael Somes including possible causes of their current separation; Dowell's thoughts on society's image of male ballet dancers; his family life; Sibley's parents; what they think and feel, respectively, when performing including learning to live with failures of technique; Rudolf Nureyev including how much Dowell has learned from him and their admiration for him; The dream and MacMillan's ballet The triad as the only ballets created for them; their desire to perform new works; their frequent performing of the classic ballets; Sibley's difficulty with certain modern music; the most elating and the most terrifying aspects of dancing [ends abruptly as Sibley begins speaking about performing in New York].
• Disc 2, approximately six minutes. [Begins abruptly.] John Gruen continues to speak with Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell about their performing in London as compared to performing on tour in New York City; Dowell's love of the kind of dancing seen in musical comedies.

Donor/Sponsor

Gift of John Gruen, April 1974

Alternative Title

Dance Audio Archive.

Subjects

• Audiotapes > Sibley, A
• Royal Ballet
• Sibley, Antoinette
• Somes, Michael, 1917-1994
• Dowell, Anthony
• Audiotapes > Dowell, A

Note

• Interview with Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell conducted by John Gruen on July 24, 1972 at Sibley's home in London, England. This interview was used as a basis for a chapter in John Gruen's book, The private world of ballet (New York, Viking Press).
• For transcript, see: *MGZMT 3-192.
• Sound quality is good. There are occasional extraneous noises and short gaps.

Funding (note)

• 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.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-192

OCLC

84060571

Author

Sibley, Antoinette, interviewee.

Title

Interview with Antoinette Sibley and Anthony Dowell. July 24, 1972, 1972.

Production

1972

Type of Content

spoken word

Type of Medium

audio

Type of Carrier

audio disc

Event

Recorded by John Gruen 1972, July 24 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.

Original Version

Original format: one sound cassette (approximately 54 minutes); 1 7/8 ips., two channels originally recorded on July 24, 1972; transferred to wav file and compact disc formats in 2013.

Local Note

Former classmark: *MGZTC 3-192

Added Author

Gruen, John, interviewer.

Dowell, Anthony, interviewee.

Gruen, John., donor

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-192