Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Lubin-Levy, Joshua.

Description

1. 6 sound discs (ca. 327 min.): digital; 4 3/4 in. +

Summary

1. Disc 1 (ca. 67 min.) 5/23/11. Dean Moss speaks with Joshua Lubin-Levy about his earliest memories of dancing as well as his early awareness of racial issues; his parents' involvement in the civil rights movement and the atmosphere in their home while growing up; his education and early career goals; his intellectual and creative awakening; more on his childhood social and creative experiences; his first serious involvement with dance through his teacher Jo Emery; his decision to train at the School of Cleveland Ballet; his experiences of racism there and his observations regarding homophobia; briefly returning to Tacoma, Washington and then briefly studying dance in New York, first at Dance Theater of Harlem and then at the Martha Graham Center for Contemporary Dance.
2. Disc 2 (ca. 40 min.). Dean Moss speaks with Joshua Lubin-Levy further about his life in New York City; auditioning for and joining the touring production of the musical comedy West Side story; his other attempts to work in musical theater; the changing of his interests toward alternative performance styles; auditioning for David Gordon; his life and living arrangements in New York during this period.
3. Disc 3 (ca. 63 min.) 5/24/11. Dean Moss speaks with Joshua Lubin-Levy about his experiences during the civil rights era and how it has affected his awareness of homophobia as well as the importance, in general, of standing up for his ideals; the origins of his later aesthetic interests; more on auditioning for David Gordon and the racial issues that arose then and in their work together; compares Gordon's work to that of Bill T. Jones; Gordon's work and their working relationship; dancers and teachers who were important in his life during that period; begins to discuss his own earliest pieces.
4. Disc 4 (ca. 44 min.). Dean Moss speaks with Joshua Lubin-Levy about the creation of his piece Adventures in assimilation [Adventures in assimilation: landscape & tapestry]; the decision to leave David Gordon's company; the creation of his work, Commodities, identities and synchronized swimming; working with Kacie Chang; his work Spooky action at a distance; his admiration for Fred Astaire; working at Florent restaurant and the community of people who worked there.
5. Disc 5 (ca. 55 min.) 5/25/11. Dean Moss speaks with Joshua Lubin-Levy about the creative process behind Spooky action at a distance; the creation of his work American deluxe and the work's autobiographical elements; becoming Curator of Dance and Performance at The Kitchen [Kitchen Center for Video, Music, Dance, Performance, Film, and Literature], and his work and experiences in that position; his thoughts on The Kitchen, Dance Theater Workshop and PS 122 [Performance Space 122]; the beginnings of his work as a teacher.
6. Disc 6 (58 min.). Dean Moss speaks with Joshua Lubin-Levy about his expanding interest in collaboration; working with visual artist Laylah Ali; the development of his [and Yoon Jin Kim's] work Kisaeng becomes you; more on his creative process and his experiencing of artistic and personal self-doubt; his thoughts on the role of the artist in the predominant culture; the relationship between performer and audience, in particular as expressed in his work Nameless forest; critical reception to his work; his fundamental intentions and concerns as an artist; artists whom he admires.

Alternative title

1. Dance Oral History Project.

Subject

1. Gordon, David, 1936-2022
2. Race relations
3. Audiotapes > Moss, D
4. African Americans > Civil rights > History > 20th century
5. Civil rights movements > United States
6. David Gordon/Pickup Company
7. Kisaeng becomes you (Choreographic work : Kim and Moss)
8. Performance Space 122
9. Participatory theater
10. Adventures in assimilation: landscape & tapestry (Choreographic work : Moss)
11. Spooky action at a distance (Choreographic work : Moss)
12. Kitchen Center for Video, Music, Dance, Performance, Film, and Literature (New York, N.Y.)
13. Moss, Dean
14. Nameless forest (Choreographic work : Moss)
15. Collaborative choreography
16. Commodities, identities and synchronized swimming (Choregraphic work : Moss)
17. Dance Theater Workshop

Call number

1. *MGZTL 4-2874

Note

1. Interview with Dean Moss conducted by Joshua Lubin-Levy on May 23, 24, and 25, 2011 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City as part of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division's Oral History Project.
2. For transcript see: *MGZMT 3-2874.

Access (note)

1. Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Funding (note)

1. The assistance of the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts is gratefully acknowledged.

Author

1. Moss, Dean. Interviewee

Title

1. Interview with Dean Moss [sound recording].

Imprint

1. 2011.

Funding

1. The assistance of the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts is gratefully acknowledged.

Restricted access

1. Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Local subject

1. Audiotapes -- Moss, D.

Added author

1. Lubin-Levy, Joshua. Interviewer

Research call number

1. *MGZTL 4-2874
2. *MGZMT 3-2874