Research Catalog

Title

Interviews with Iris Merrick, Asaf Messerer, and John Barker, 1969.

Author

Merrick, Iris

Publication

1966

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Messerer, Asaf, 1903-1992
• Barker, John
• Horosko, Marian

Description

1 sound disc (approximately 32 minutes) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Tracks 1-3 (approximately 11 minutes). Marian Horosko, host on the radio program Dance New York, introduces her topic: ballet training in Russia [former Soviet Union]; Iris Merrick, based on her month-long visit to Leningrad [now St. Petersburg], speaks about the selection and training of children at the ballet school in Leningrad [Vaganova Ballet Academy or Akademii︠a︡ russkogo baleta im. A.I︠A︡. Vaganovoĭ].
• Tracks 4-6 (approximately 13 minutes). Marian Horosko, host on the radio program Dance New York, introduces her second guest, Asaf Messerer, ballet master of the Bolshoi Theater Ballet. Asaf Messerer speaks (in Russian with interpretation by an unidentified third person) about the selection and training of students at the Bolshoi [Ballet] School; the lack of major differences in technique between dancers in Leningrad and in Moscow; the syllabus used to train students in Moscow and elsewhere, including its ongoing revision; the training of teachers; his thoughts on George Balanchine's work Jewels and on non-story ballets generally.
• Tracks 5-7 (approximately 11 minutes). Marian Horosko, host on the radio program Dance New York, introduces her third guest, John Barker speaks about teaching the Leningrad-Kirov method including general differences between ballet students in the United States and in the [former] Soviet Union; the level of ballet and ballet dancers in the United States today and his hopes for the future; ballet teachers in the United States; more on the teaching system in Russia; his views on whether a more uniform system of training in the United States would be beneficial.

Uniform Title

Dance New York (Radio program)

Subjects

• Bolʹshoĭ teatr SSSR > Balet
• Audiotapes > Messerer, A
• Audiotapes > Merrick, I
• Messerer, Asaf, 1903-1992 > Interviews
• Akademii︠a︡ russkogo baleta im. A.I︠A︡. Vaganovoĭ
• Ballet > Study and teaching > Soviet Union
• Audiotapes > Barker, J
• Dance teachers
• Merrick, Iris > Interviews
• Ballet > Study and teaching > United States
• Barker, John > Interviews

Note

• Interview with Iris Merrick (approximately 11 minutes), Asaf Messerer (approximately 13 minutes; in Russian with interpretation by unidentified, third person), and John Barker (approximately 11 minutes), each conducted by Marian Horosko as host, in New York City, on Dance New York, on the radio station WBAI, New York, in March, 1969.
• Sound quality is good in the case of the interviews with Iris Merrick and with John Barker. It is fair in the case of the interview with Asaf Messerer, in which he speaks in Russian with a third-party interpreter.
• Title supplied by cataloger.

Funding (note)

• The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2953B

OCLC

884340104

Author

Merrick, Iris, interviewee.

Title

Interviews with Iris Merrick, Asaf Messerer, and John Barker, 1969.

Production

1966

Type of Content

spoken word

Type of Medium

audio

Type of Carrier

audio disc

Event

Recorded for WBAI, New York 1969 New York (N.Y.)

Original Version

Original format: one sound reel (approximately one hour and six minutes); 7 inches; 7.5 ips., mono; full-track originally recorded for WBAI-FM radio station in New York City, in 1969; transferred to wav file and compact disc formats in 2013. This reel also contains the recording of a separate interview with Clive Barnes and Deborah Jowitt conducted by Marian Horosko, as host, on Dance New York, which has been cataloged under the call number *MGZTL 4-2953A.

Funding

The conservation and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.

Added Author

Messerer, Asaf, 1903-1992, interviewee.

Barker, John, interviewee.

Horosko, Marian, host.

Added Title

Dance New York (Radio program)

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2953B