- Additional Authors
- Found In
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Description
- 2 streaming audio files (90 minutes total) : digital, stereo
- Summary
- Streaming file 1, side 1: Begins abruptly; Carolyn Brown and Marianne Preger-Simon speak with David Vaughan about dancer Joanne Melsher, including her roles in Banjo (1953) and Septet (1953), and reasons she left the [Merce Cunningham Dance] Company in 1955; more about Melsher, including performing with Merce Cunningham in a production of Brigadoon, and a solo she choreographed and performed with John Cage; they briefly speak about the dancers working with Cunningham prior to the 1953 formation of the Company; they speak about Minutiae (1954), including the original cast and subsequent versions with one less dancer; they speak about their memories of the 6th Avenue studio where Cunningham choreographed Minutiae; they speak about Springweather and people (1955), including its music by Earle Brown, Indices; they tell an anecdote about a performance of Suite by chance (1952) and speak about the challenges of dancing it; they speak about the Company activities during the summer of 1953, including memories of their time at Black Mountain College; more about Springweather and people, especially the movements they remember from it; they speak about the original costumes for Springweather by Remy Charlip and they list other works for which Charlip designed costumes; [brief recording breaks]; Preger speaks about spraining her ankle at Black Mountain College and being unable to perform opening night; they speak briefly about Anita Dencks having the mumps at Black Mountain; Preger speaks more about how she sprained her ankle in rehearsal for Dime a dance (1953); they speak about the short dances in Dime a dance including the dancers that performed each and later works which incorporated parts of Dime; they speak briefly about Cunningham's choreographic notes; Brown tells an anecdote about Charlip interviewing Cunningham for a Dance Magazine article; they speak about writing their respective books and how to include sensitive information; they speak briefly about Changeling (1957); [brief recording break]; they speak about Galaxy and each of the performer's roles in it; Preger-Simon recalls telling Cunningham she was leaving the Company and Brown tells an anecdote about missing Preger-Simon; they list the Company members that joined after Preger-Simon's departure; [brief recording break]; they speak about Fragments (1953); ends abruptly.
- Streaming file 2, side 2: Begins abruptly; Carolyn Brown and Marianne Preger-Simon continue to speak with David Vaughan about Fragments (1953); they speak about reasons for works not being kept in the repertory especially Labyrinthian dances (1957), a revival of Antic meet (1958), Squaregame (1976), and Exchange (1978); Vaughan speaks about Charles Atlas's filming of Exchange; [brief recording break]; they speak about Merce Cunningham's solos, especially in Septet (1953) and Sixteen dances for soloist and a company of three (1951); [brief recording break]; they speak about the Company's residency at Connecticut College in the summer of 1958, including Cunningham's classes, and rehearsals for Antic meet and Summerspace (1958); Brown tells an anecdote about Cunningham's frustration with using a record in rehearsal for Septet and later, David Tudor's live playing of the music; Vaughan tells a brief anecdote about Tudor playing the music for Banjo (1953); they speak about Picnic polka (1957) including the movement style that references square dancing; they speak about the costumes for Labyrinthian dances by Robert Rauschenberg; they speak more about Banjo, the way Joanne Melsher danced it, and Melsher's strengths as a dancer; they speak about Remy Charlip as a dancer; Brown tells an anecdote about Charlip dancing with Cunningham in a performance; [brief recording break]; Brown speaks about a part of a costume by Charlip that was accidentally discarded and her wish to keep her original costume for RainForest (1968); [ca. 16:32, recording ends abruptly]; [ca. 16:33- , recording of unidentified chorus and orchestra music]; ends abruptly.
- Alternative Title
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Subjects
- Sound recordings
- Interviews
- Live sound recordings
- Music and dance
- Choruses, Secular (Equal voices) with orchestra
- Choreography
- Suite by chance (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
- Springweather and people (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
- Minutiae (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
- Galaxy (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
- Dime a dance (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
- Banjo (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
- Merce Cunningham Dance Company
- Rauschenberg, Robert, 1925-2008, > production designer
- Melsher, Joanne, > dancer
- Cunningham, Merce, > choreographer
- Charlip, Remy, > dancer
- Cage, John, > composer
- Preger-Simon, Marianne, 1929- > Interviews
- Brown, Carolyn, 1927- > Interviews
- Genre/Form
- Interviews.
- Live sound recordings.
- Sound recordings.
- Note
- David Vaughan interviews Carolyn Brown and Marianne Preger-Simon, likely in New York, New York on May 29, 1983. This interview was taken as research for David Vaughan's book, Merce Cunningham: Fifty years (New York, Aperture).
- Title and date provided by cataloger based on audition and handwritten note on original cassette and container.
- Handwritten note on original container: "Carolyn Brown Interview 1983". Handwritten note on original cassette: "1. Interview with Carolyn Brown and Marianne Preger, 29 May 1983".
- Sound quality is mostly good; occasionally the speakers are some distance from the microphone and difficult to hear. There are a few moments of several other unidentified speakers on the recording.
- Access (note)
- Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Event (note)
- Recorded in live performance.
- Source (note)
- Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation
- Linking Entry (note)
- Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Call Number
- *LTC-A 1468
- OCLC
- 914487291
- Title
Interview with Carolyn Brown and Marianne Preger-Simon ; and live performance of unidentified chorus and orchestra music, 1983-05-29.
- Production
May 29, 1983.
- Playing Time
004526 004430
- Type of Content
performed music
spoken word
- Type of Medium
audio
- Type of Carrier
audiocassette
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
audio file
- Event
Recorded in, New York, New York, 1983 May 29.
Recorded in live performance.
- Restricted Access
Patrons can access streaming audio only on site at NYPL Research Libraries.
- Original Version
Archival original: (1 audio cassette (90 minutes) : analog) in *LTC-A 1468.
- Linking Entry
Forms part of the Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Local Note
Transferred from original analog cassette by George Blood Audio on March 26, 2015; two preservation files were created based on the cassette sides.
- Source
Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Brown, Carolyn, 1927- interviewee.
Preger-Simon, Marianne, 1929- interviewee.
Vaughan, David, 1924- interviewer.
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, donor.
- Added Title
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials.
- Found In:
Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection.
- Research Call Number
*LTC-A 1468