Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Moseley, Monica.
2. Aloff, Mindy, 1947-
3. Reynolds, Nancy, 1938-
4. George Balanchine Foundation.

Description

1. 2 sound cassettes (ca. 128 min.) +

Summary

1. Cassette 25, side A (ca. 38 min.). The interview includes Frederic Franklin's comments on photographs of and designs for ballets, shown to him at the interview. Franklin speaks about Ruth Page's ballet Bells, including the cast (which included Franklin, Ruthanna Boris, and Nikita Talin) and the set by Isamu Noguchi; the choreography; opening night and the audience's booing of Page; Page's theatrical background; relates anecdotes about Page and her husband, Tom [Thomas Hart] Fisher, including Page's joining Serge Diaghilev's Ballets russes de Monte Carlo on her honeymoon; Page's working methods; Page as a dancer and an artist; relates additonal anecdotes about Page; comments on photographs of and designs for Bells, especially with respect to the costumes; comments on selections from the correspondence files relating to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo shown to him, including the the circumstances of his and Alicia Markova's leaving the Markova-Dolin Ballet Company to join the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. [Ends abruptly.]
2. Cassette 25, side B (ca. 37 min.). Franklin continues to speak about his and Markova's joining the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; continues to comment on selections from the correspondence files, including a letter Alexandra Danilova had written to Julius Fleischmann [a patron of the company] on Franklin's behalf concerning his status in the company; offers made to Franklin to act in Hollywood films; his draft deferral; traveling and rehearsing in France just prior to the outbreak of World War II; the flight of Leonide Massine with other managers of the company after the declaration of war, leaving Franklin and the other dancers stranded in Paris; Franklin's flight to Rotterdam en route to the U.S.; his passage to the U.S.; reconstituting the company in the U.S.; reasons he and other dancers, some stateless, were able to flee to the U.S.; his delight in Coca-cola, Howard Johnson's, and the Automat. [Ends abruptly.]
3. Cassette 26 side A (ca. 38 min.). Franklin continues to comment on selections from the correspondence files, including his extensive exchanges with Sergei Denham; his relationship with Danilova, including both her great affection for him and her jealousy at times of his successes; George Balanchine's advice to him regarding the public; relates an anecdote illustrating Danilova's lack of administrative ability; her complete dedication to dancing; performing Massine's ballet Gaîté parisienne with Danilova on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, at the Metropolitan Opera in NYC; the circumstances of Danilova's leaving the company, including Denham's slighting of her; Franklin's reasons for leaving the company; Denham's becoming involved with artistic matters only after Massine's departure; Denham's efforts to prolong the life of the company in its last years; Heinz Rosen's ballet La dame à la licorne [The lady and the unicorn] created for Nina Novak. [Ends abruptly.]
4. Cassette 26, side B (ca. 15 min.). Franklin continues speaking about La dame à la licorne; his great admiration as a boy for Massine, Danilova, Markova, and Anton Dolin; Wendy Toye, including her close relationship with Serge Diaghilev and Franklin's life-long friendship with her; Toye's early exit from the dance world for theater.

Series statement

1. Frederic Franklin Oral History Project

Alternative title

1. Dance Oral History Project.

Subject

1. Franklin, Frederic, 1914-2013
2. Danilova, Alexandra, 1903-1997
3. Page, Ruth, 1899-1991
4. Markova, Alicia, Dame, 1910-2004
5. Denham, Sergei, 1896-1970
6. Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
7. Slavenska-Franklin Ballet
8. Bells (Choreographic work : Page)

Call number

1. *MGZTC 3-2253 nos. 25-26

Note

1. Interview with Frederic Franklin conducted by Mindy Aloff, Monica Moseley, and Nancy Reynolds, at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City on June 21, 2000. The interview was recorded for the Frederic Franklin Oral History Project; the Project is a collaboration between the George Balanchine Foundation and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
2. For transcript see: *MGZMT 3-2253 no. 25-26.
3. The recording is marred by occasional extraneous noise.
4. The transcripts were prepared by the George Balanchine Foundation. The transcripts are edited versions of the recordings and may include material such as follow-up interviews, in person and by telephone, and explanatory notes, which are not included in the recording.
5. The transcript with the call number of *MGZMT 3-2253 no. 25 reflects the contents of cassette no. 25; the trancript with the call number of *MGZMT 3-2253 no. 26 reflects the contents of cassette no. 26.

Access (note)

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

Author

1. Franklin, Frederic, 1914-2013. Interviewee

Title

1. Interview with Frederic Franklin. June 21, 2000 [sound recording].

Imprint

1. 2000.

Series

1. Frederic Franklin Oral History Project

Local note

1. Archive copy: *MGZTCO 3-2253 nos. 25-26
2. Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-2253 nos. 25-26

Restricted access

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

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Special Collections (Dance Division) material

Local subject

1. Audiotapes -- Franklin, F.

Added author

1. Moseley, Monica. Interviewer
2. Aloff, Mindy, 1947- Interviewer
3. Reynolds, Nancy, 1938- Interviewer
4. George Balanchine Foundation.

Research call number

1. *MGZTC 3-2253 nos. 25-26 sound cassettes
2. *MGZMT 3-2253 no. 25 transcript
3. *MGZMT 3-2253 no. 26 transcript