Six streaming audio files (approximately four hours and 42 minutes) : digital
Summary
Streaming audio file 1, Williamstown (Mass.); (approximately 48 minutes). Roman Jasinski speaks with Doris Hering about the Tulsa Civic Ballet [originally Tulsa Ballet Theatre; now Tulsa Ballet]; partnering in the Rose adagio of The sleeping beauty; his early training; the difficulty of recruiting boys for ballet training in the United States; his family background; his recent visit to his former school and the theater in Warsaw, Poland; the training he received compared with the training in the United States today; dancing for Ida Rubinstein's company; Ida Rubinstein as a dancer; Bronislava Nijinska and her choreography [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 2].
Streaming audio file 2, Williamstown (Mass.); (approximately 48 minutes). Roman Jasinski speaks with Doris Hering about his various engagements following the dissolution of Ida Rubinstein's company; dancing for the Ballets russes de Monte Carlo; following George Balanchine to Les ballets 1933; Tamara Toumanova as a partner; Balanchine including his calm manner and patience at rehearsals; Boris Kochno; coaching including his experience with his son [Roman L. Jasinski] and other dancers in the United States; Balanchine's ballet The seven deadly sins; Balanchine as a choreographer; Jasinki's first choreography, a pas de deux with Sono Osato; working for Nijinska; Olga Spessivtzeva including a performance anecdote; the English audience; Colonel de Basil [Wassili de Basil]; more on the Ballets russes de Monte Carlo and Balanchine; more on Les ballets 1933 including Balanchine's ballet Errante; his own choreography [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 3].
Streaming audio file 3 (approximately 48 minutes). Roman Jasinski speaks with Doris Hering about the repertoire for the upcoming season of the Tulsa Civic Ballet; more on Colonel de Basil; more on the Ballets russes de Monte Carlo including the company members; Michel Fokine's ballet Les sylphides including Fokine's praise of Jasinki's dancing of the mazurka; Alexandra Danilova as a partner; Irina Baronova; his preference for dramatic roles; David Lichine's ballet Prodigal son; Lichine as a choreographer; more on Fokine; his approach to the role of Albrecht [in Giselle]; his favorite roles including in Lifar's Prométée [Creatures of Prometheus]; joining the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; Sergei Denham; the life of a ballet dancer at the time including the rigors of touring; an anecdote about Leonide Massine [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 4].
Streaming audio file 4 (approximately 48 minutes). Roman Jasinski speaks with Doris Hering about Leonide Massine's ballet Union Pacific [Union Pacific; or The golden spike]; dancers' compensation at the time; his wife, Moscelyne Larkin; Alicia Markova including as a partner; reasons he enjoys the role of Prince Siegfried; Nana Gollner as a dancer; Anatole Oboukhoff as a teacher; Balanchine as a teacher including elements he has introduced since Jasinski took his classes; the style of Balanchine's port de bras; Lincoln Kirstein's first meeting with Balanchine, at a performance of Les Ballets 1933; Edward James' falling out with Balanchine and the dissolution of Les Ballets 1933; joining Serge Lifar's small company for a United States tour; an anecdote about Kyra Nijinsky; Felia Doubrovska as a dancer; Pierre Vladimiroff; Lifar as a dancer [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 5].
Streaming audio file 5, New York (N.Y.); (approximately 48 minutes). Roman Jasinski speaks with Doris Hering about Serge Lifar as a dancer; briefly, Lincoln Kirstein; rejoining Ballets russes de Monte Carlo; Sergei Denham's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, including the reasons he left the de Basil company, in 1947; Tamara Toumanova and her mother's influence on her dancing; Irina Baronova and marriage and ballet; the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo's concert company including his responsibilities as manager; Nathalie Krassovska as a partner; his impression of Fernando Bujones; touring with Tamara Toumanova; the Great Moments in Ballet tour [presented by Sol Hurok]; the birth of his son and his decision to stop performing; the school in Tulsa, Oklahoma [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 6].
Streaming audio file 6, New York (N.Y.); (approximately 42 minutes). Roman Jasinski speaks with Doris Hering about the Tulsa Civic Ballet; his son, Roman L. Jasinski and his dancing; the marked progress that ballet and the teaching of ballet has made in the United States; working with his wife, Moscelyne Larkin; the happiness that ballet has brought him throughout his life; his admiration for Balanchine's choreography including his new ballet, Union Jack.
Interview with Roman Jasinski conducted by Doris Hering in Williamstown (Mass.) and in New York (N.Y.) in 1976 for the Oral History Project of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
Sound quality is good. The recording is marred by numerous short gaps.
Title supplied by cataloger.
Access (note)
Patrons may access streaming audio only on site at The New York Public Library research libraries.
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.
Author
Jasinski, Roman, 1912-1991, interviewee.
Title
Interview with Roman Jasinski , 1976.
Production
1976.
Type of content
spoken word
Type of medium
audio
Type of carrier
online resource
Digital file characteristics
audio file
Restricted access
Patrons may access streaming audio only on site at The New York Public Library research libraries.
Event
Recorded by Doris Hering for the Oral History Project of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts 1976 Williamstown (Mass.) and 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.
Original version
Original format: three sound cassettes (approximately four hours and 42 minutes); quarter-track; 1.875 ips; transferred to wav file and streaming file format (myd_mgztco3593_v01f01_sc, myd_mgztco3593_v01f02_sc, myd_mgztco3593_v02f01_sc, myd_mgztco3593_v02f02_sc, myd_mgztco3593_v03f01_sc, and myd_mgztco3593_v03f02_sc) in 2015.