Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. McDonagh, Don.
2. McDonagh, Don. dnr
3. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Description

1. 2 sound discs (ca. 94 min.) : digital, stereo; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

1. Part 1, disc 1 (ca. 47 min.). Jean Erdman speaks with Don McDonagh about discovering Martha Graham's work when Graham taught classes at Sarah Lawrence College, where Erdman was a student; being inspired by Graham; the fact that Graham's dances were grounded in body and strength; Graham's dance outfit when she taught at Sarah Lawrence; deciding to dance because one could choreograph one's own work, and then dance it; Graham's classes with floor work; attending Bennington and performing in Anna Sokolow's dance; an anecdote of borrowing a white leotard from Graham, and considering it a holy thing; returning the leotard to Graham and being asked to join Graham's company; delaying joining the Graham company in order to travel around the world with her family; returning to Graham after travels; having to learn four dances in ten days, proving to be an exciting initiation into the Graham company; Erick Hawkins joining the company at the same time, with American document being his first performance; taking ballet lessons from Hawkins; Graham's use of the ballet bar in her classes; the fact that Graham's area of movement began to change with Hawkins' arrival, due to the fact that men took the space that had once been occupied by women; Graham sending Merce Cunningham to ballet school; her marriage to Joseph Campbell; Louis Horst and his appreciation and knowledge of art; Graham's relationship with Horst after male dancers arrived; Graham's need to create male and female tension in the dances; playing the role of the spectator in Every soul is a surface, in Letter to the world; the costumes used for the dances; her duet with Hawkins at Bennington, and getting to know him; an anecdote when Graham told Erdman that Erdman had the same kind of underwear as Hawkins, which was the first the company learned of Graham's personal relationship with Hawkins.
2. Part 1, disc 2 (ca. 47 min.). Jean Erdman speaks with Don McDonagh about Graham's eating habits; Graham's aloofness from the company; Graham's tendency to call her husband, Joseph Campbell, at home to discuss mythology; Graham's interest in mythology; beginning to choreograph solos, with Louis Horst composing the scores, especially Medusa, with Charlotte Trowbridge's costume designs; working with Carlos Dyer; leaving Graham's company to start her own dance company; her studio on 5th ave.; working with Merce Cunningham at Bennington, choreographing a piece that was chiefly improvised, a fact that shocked the other dancers; choreography taken from a story written by Cunningham; after leaving Graham's company; studying various dance forms; teaching classes in dance fundamentals; eventually creating her own technique; recalls a teacher at Sarah Lawrence, Marion Knighton, and her influence; changes in Graham's company in later years; Graham's use of male dancers; Graham's issues with alcohol consumption; Ron Protas's influence on Graham; opinion of Ron Protas [abrupt end].

Subject

1. Graham, Martha
2. Graham, Martha > American document
3. Erdman, Jean > Interviews
4. Cunningham, Merce
5. Campbell, Joseph
6. Sarah Lawrence College
7. Horst, Louis > Influence
8. Hawkins, Erick

Call number

1. *MGZTL 4-2567

Note

1. Interview with Jean Erdman conducted by Don McDonagh on Oct. 4, 1993.
2. Each disc ends abruptly.
3. Open as of August 22, 2012.

Funding (note)

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

Source (note)

1. Don McDonagh;

Author

1. Erdman, Jean. Interviewee

Title

1. Interview with Jean Erdman [sound recording].

Imprint

1. 1993.

Funding

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

Local note

1. Archive orig. : *MGZTCO 3-2567, nos. 1-2
2. Dubbing master : *MGZTD 4-2567, nos. 1-2

Source

1. Gift; Don McDonagh; 2007

Added author

1. McDonagh, Don. Interviewer
2. McDonagh, Don. Donor
3. Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.

Research call number

1. *MGZTL 4-2567 sound disc