Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Donald McKayle [sound recording].

Author

McKayle, Donald, 1930-2018.

Publication

1988.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Description

1 sound disc (ca. 43 min.) : digital, stereo; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

Disc 1 (ca. 43 min.). Donald McKayle speaks with Don McDonagh about touring with Martha Graham in India; Bethsabee de Rothschild, and her administration of the tour; seeing the Taj Mahal, and various sites around India; seeing Graham's work, Lamentation, when he was a teenager; not realizing how small a person Graham was until after he met her; touring and ending up in Israel; having his own dance company, but it was unstable; the fact that Graham's tour was paid for by the U.S. State Department; highlights of the tour, including Ardent song, which Graham created with him in mind; using Graham's vocubulary when dancing with her; Graham calling her students ambassadors; Paul Taylor, and his rebellion of Graham's strict rules; Cave of the heart, and the power of Graham's dancing; not taking ballet lessons when he worked for Graham; the fact that Graham would spend hours fitting the men in their costumes; Charlotte Trowbridge, and her costume designs; Graham's unique design sense; dancing in Israel, and an anecdote about costumes and de Rothschild; Graham's powerful personality; the kinds of images Graham would give to students when preparing them for dances; the fact that Graham would take her students' choreography and make it her own, but that it was flattering when she did; Jean Erdman and Merce Cunningham, and their ability to create their own vocabularies despite being trained by Graham; dancing with Pearl Primus and Sophie Maslow; learning muscle movements from Jean Erdman; meeting Graham at a dance in which he was performing with Sophie Maslow; receiving a scholarship to dance at Graham's studio, and feeling like he and Graham connected immediately; prejudice in dance studios; presenting at Jacob's Pillow; moving beyond Graham's company; being asked by Graham to return for a tour in 1955 [abrupt end].

Subjects

• Rothschild, Bethsabée de, Baroness
• Graham, Martha > Influence
• Dance company tours
• Maslow, Sophie > Influence
• Erdman, Jean > Influence
• Ardent song (Choreographic work : Graham)
• Martha Graham Dance Company
• McKayle, Donald, 1930-2018 > Interviews

Note

• Interview with Donald McKayle conducted by Don McDonagh on June 26, 1988.
• Recording quality is poor at beginning; 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 4-2558

OCLC

262558478

Author

McKayle, Donald, 1930-2018. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Donald McKayle [sound recording].

Imprint

1988.

Funding

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

Local Note

Archive orig. : *MGZTCO 3-2558

Dubbing master : *MGZTD 4-2558

Source

Gift; Don McDonagh; 2007

Local Subject

Dance company tours.

Added Author

McDonagh, Don. Donor

Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2558 sound disc