Research Catalog

Title

Interview with May O'Donnell [sound recording].

Author

O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004.

Publication

1993.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• McDonagh, Don.
• Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Description

2 sound discs (ca. 94 min.) : digital, stereo; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Part one (ca. 47 min.). May O'Donnell speaks with Don McDonagh about her early interactions with Martha Graham, including how she began dancing for the company in 1932; her attraction to Graham's style; early influences, including Mary Wigman and Michio Ito; her attraction to modern dance; moving to San Francisco and then L.A. on a scholarship to dance with Michio Ito; learning about Graham while she was studying with Ito; taking classes at Mary Wigman's school in N.Y., but ultimately moving to Graham's studio; joining the company after her second lesson; Graham's contraction and release techniques; Graham's assignment of one of her dancers, Gertrude Shurr, to serve as O'Donnell's teacher; her friendship with Gertrude Shurr; the first time she saw Graham dance in 1932; her work with Louis Horst, and attending his lessons in composition; Horst's attitude toward dance and dancers; Graham's frustration with dancers who did not share a depth of concentration; her professional relationship with Graham; her admiration of Graham's choreography and perfectionism; her various teaching jobs in N.Y.; her first year at Bennington in 1934, serving as Horst's assistant; her working relationship with Horst, and an anecdote involving Horst, and the dancer Sybil Shearer; Erick Hawkins' joining the company and her encouragement of him; leaving Graham's company to pursue other dance opportunities.
• Part two (ca. 47 min.). May O'Donnell speaks with Don McDonagh about how she and Gertrude Shurr left Graham's company in 1938; the evolution of Graham's work; Graham asking her to dance a role in Appalachian spring; dancing the role of the pioneering woman; how she toured with the company in Europe; not wanting to tour but ultimately doing so as a favor to Graham; Graham's piano accompanist, Helen Lanfer, and the relationship she and her husband, Ray Green, had with her; the last time she saw Graham perform; Gertrude Shurr's opinions of reconstructed Graham dances; Graham's sacrifice for her work; Graham's company in the 1990s, including dancers Linda Hodes, Yuriko; Ron Protas, including several encounters with Protas, and her understanding of Graham's relationship with him [abrupt end].

Subjects

• Graham, Martha > Appalachian spring
• Itō, Michio, 1893-1961 > Influence
• O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004 > Interviews
• Shurr, Gertrude > Influence
• Graham, Martha > Influence
• Martha Graham Dance Company
• Wigman, Mary, 1886-1973 > Influence
• Protas, Ron
• Bennington School of the Dance
• Horst, Louis
• Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance

Note

• Interview with May O'Donnell conducted by Don McDonagh on July 16, 1993.
• The beginning and the end of the interview are cut off; each disc ends abruptly.
• Open as of August 22, 2012.

Funding (note)

• Recording was preserved through a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Source (note)

• Don McDonagh;

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2526

OCLC

262557850

Author

O'Donnell, May, 1906-2004. Interviewee

Title

Interview with May O'Donnell [sound recording].

Imprint

1993.

Funding

Recording was preserved through a grant from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Local Note

Archive orig. : *MGZTCO 3-2526, nos. 1-2

Dubbing master : *MGZTD 4-2526, nos. 1-2

Source

Gift; Don McDonagh; 2007

Added Author

McDonagh, Don. Interviewer

McDonagh, Don. Donor

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2526 sound disc