Research Catalog

Interview with Tamara Geva

Title
Interview with Tamara Geva [sound recording].
Author
Geva, Tamara.
Publication
1976.

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StatusVol/DateFormatAccessCall NumberItem Location
discs 1-2AudioUse in library *MGZTL 4-654 discs 1-2Performing Arts Research Collections - Dance

Details

Additional Authors
  • Reynolds, Nancy, 1938-
  • National Endowment for the Arts, 2008-2009.
  • New York State Council on the Arts, 2008-2009.
Description
2 sound discs (ca. 123 min.): digital; 4 3/4 in.
Summary
  • Disc 1, track 1 - ca. 4 min. into track 8: May 7, 1976 (ca. 39 min.). Tamara Geva speaks with Nancy Reynolds about her relationship with father and mother; dancing in Europe [in a small company with George Balanchine and Alexandra Danilova], including an anecdote about Ernest Toller; joining the Ballets russes; Serge Diaghilev, including an anecdote about how he first met Lord Rothermere [Viscount Harold Sidney Harmsworth Rothermere]; Diaghilev's personality, including an anecdote about the Paris premiere of [Balanchine's and Bronislava Nijinska's] Romeo and Juliet [short gap]; more on her father, in particular his theater collection; her early training in Leningrad, including her teacher Lydia Sokolova; the advanced technique of ballet students today compared to Geva's time; Mathilde Kschessinska; life in Leningrad; Balanchine, including how she first met him; dancing with him in his work Romance; Balanchine as a dancer; his work Enigma; [Kasyan] Goleizovsky; leaving the Soviet Union; more on dancing with the Ballet russes [short gap followed by the beginning of May 11 session, summarized below].
  • Disc 1, from ca. 4 min. into track 8 - track 11, May 11, 1975 (ca. 16 min.). Tamara Geva continues to speak with Nancy Reynolds, including her memories of Olga Spessivtzeva, Tamara Karsavina, and Serge Lifar, including his cosmetic surgery and his technique; rehearsals and classes including [Enrico] Cecchetti's classes; reminisces about Henri Matisse and André Derain painting sets in the basement; Balanchine's L'Enfant et les sortilèges; her role as Britannia his The triumph of Neptune; his Pastorale; his La chatte; his Barabau [trails off and is continued directly on disc 2].
  • Disc 2, May 11, 2009 (ca. 68 min.). Tamara Geva continues to speak with Nancy Reynolds about her time with the Ballets russes, including Balanchine's Le chant du rossignol [The song of the nightingale] with Alicia Markova as the nightingale; The firebird [the 1970 New York City Ballet production]; Alice Nikitina; the mix of classical and non-classical styles in the Ballet russe's repertoire; circumstances of her having been fired from the Ballets russes; performing with the Chauve-Souris theater company [Teatr "Letucha︠i︡a myshʹ"]; her Grotesque español, created for Chauve-Souris; her professional relationship with Nikitia Balieff'; dancing with the Ziegfield Follies, including her initial failures; performing in the musical comedy Three's a crowd; the musical comedy, Flying colors, including her choreography for the dance number Two-faced woman; Balanchine's Errante, including the audience's response [brief gap]; her reasons for staying with musical comedies and not returning to ballet; the musical comedy On your toes, including its various innovative aspects and the dance number Slaughter on Tenth Avenue; Ray Bolger; her decision to retire from dancing after On your toes and subsequent activities, including acting, directing, and choreographing, including her acting in London in Idiot's delight; her experiences in Hollywood, including working on Ben Hecht's film Specter of the rose; her regrets.
Alternative Title
  • Dance Oral History Project
  • Dance Audio Archive
Subjects
Note
  • Interview with Tamara Geva conducted by Nancy Reynolds on May 7 and May 11, 1976 in New York City for the New York Public Library Dance Collection Oral History Project.
  • Sound quality is excellent. There are a few short gaps due to telephone calls and similar interruptions.
  • For transcript of interview, see *MGZMT 5-654
Funding (note)
  • Preservation was funded in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, 2008-2009 and the National Endowment for the Arts, 2008-2009.
System Details (note)
  • Transferred from 1 sound reel (ca. 123 min.; 1 7/8 in. per sec. ; 5 in..; polyester; originally recorded on May 7 and May 11, 1976) to wav file and compact disc formats in March and April 2009.
Call Number
*MGZTL 4-654
OCLC
457879123
Author
Geva, Tamara. Interviewee
Title
Interview with Tamara Geva [sound recording].
Imprint
1976.
Funding
Preservation was funded in part with public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts, 2008-2009 and the National Endowment for the Arts, 2008-2009.
System Details
Transferred from 1 sound reel (ca. 123 min.; 1 7/8 in. per sec. ; 5 in..; polyester; originally recorded on May 7 and May 11, 1976) to wav file and compact disc formats in March and April 2009.
Local Note
Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-654 nos. 1-2
Archive original: *MGZTO 5-654. Restored and rehoused following water damage in 2015.
Former call number: *MGZT 5-654.
Added Author
Reynolds, Nancy, 1938- Interviewer
National Endowment for the Arts, 2008-2009.
New York State Council on the Arts, 2008-2009.
Research Call Number
*MGZTL 4-654
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