Research Catalog
Interview with Gertrude Shurr
- Title
- Interview with Gertrude Shurr [sound recording]
- Author
- Shurr, Gertrude.
- Publication
- 1982.
Items in the Library & Off-site
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2 Items
| Status | Vol/Date | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person. | disc 1 | Audio | Use in library | *MGZTL 4-1587 disc 1 | Performing Arts Research Collections - Dance |
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Performing Arts Research Collections to submit a request in person. | disc 2 | Audio | Use in library | *MGZTL 4-1587 disc 2 | Performing Arts Research Collections - Dance |
Details
- Additional Authors
- Sears, David, 1948-1992.
- Description
- 2 sound discs (ca. 92 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.
- Summary
- Disc 1 (ca. 64 min.). Gertrude Shurr speaks about Martha Graham's piece Primitive mysteries, especially its religious essence; the influence of Graham's experiences in New Mexico on her work; Shurr's view that Primitive mysteries is a quasi-Catholic miracle play; Graham's work Bacchanale; solo pieces, including Dithraymbic that arose from Bacchanale; Graham as the heir of Ruth St. Denis with respect to Orientalism and use of fabric; speculates as to why St. Denis never took Graham on tour with her to the Orient; compares the dancers in the Martha Graham Dance Company today with the dancers of Shurr's time [gap]; more on her view of current Graham dancers; compares the experience of seeing performances in the New Mexican pueblos with seeing performances in Santa Fe; the walk and the Crucifixion run in Primitive mysteries; the original costumes; her thoughts on the work's revival; more on the current dancers in the Martha Graham Dance Company, especially the fact that most have never seen Graham perform; speaks about various early Graham works and their revivals, including Sophie Maslow's revival of Primitive mysteries; Graham's work Hérodiade, including its autobiographical aspect and Isamu Noguchi's design for the set; Graham's work Dark meadow, including an anecdote about May O'Donnell and Noguchi's set [ends abruptly].
- Disc 2 (ca. 28 min.). [Begins abruptly.] Shurr speaks about Graham as a dancer; Graham's friendship with Katherine Cornell; Shurr's plans to visit New York City to work with May O'Donnell and to see the Martha Graham Dance Company's revivals of Primitive mysteries, Hérodiade, and Dark meadow; the problems with non-Graham dancers dancing in Graham's works; her friendship with Graham; brief chronology of her early training before starting to work with Graham; her admiration for O'Donnell, with respect to both her interpretations of Graham's works and her own work; some thoughts on Pearl Lang and Yuriko; her great admiration for Graham as an artist.
- Donor/Sponsor
- Gift of David Sears.
- National Endowment for the Arts, 2001-2002.
- Oral History Archive.
- Subjects
- Note
- Interview with Gertrude Shurr conducted by David Sears by telephone, probably as part of the research for his article Graham masterworks in revival, published in Ballet review, vol. 10, no 2, Summer 1982, p. 25-34. It appears that Shurr is in Tuscon, Ariz., and Sears is in New York City.
- Funding (note)
- Preservation was made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, 2001-2002.
- Call Number
- *MGZTL 4-1587
- OCLC
- NYPY04-R30
- Author
- Shurr, Gertrude. Interviewee
- Title
- Interview with Gertrude Shurr [sound recording]
- Imprint
- 1982.
- Funding
- Preservation was made possible in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, 2001-2002.
- Local Note
- Archive original: *MGZTCO 3-1587Preservation master: *MGZTP 4-1587Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-1587
- Local Subject
- Audiotapes -- Shurr, G.
- Added Author
- Sears, David, 1948-1992. Interviewer
- Research Call Number
- *MGZTL 4-1587