Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. McDonagh, Don.

Description

1. 1 sound disc (ca. 64 min.): digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

1. [Begins abruptly.] Emile Ardolino speaks with Don McDonagh about filming dance for the WNET/13 series Dance in America, including the characteristics of various studios he has used; determining the number and placement of the cameras; filming George Balanchine's and Alexandra Danilova's production of Coppélia, including the use of a rough shoot known as a scratch tape; working with Balanchine and other choreographers, including Robert Joffrey and Jerome Robbins; more on Ardolino's working methods; editing, including the participation of the choreographer and the dancers in the process; individual choreographers' and dancers' attempts to control the filming when performances are shot in the studio; a detailed description of the conception and production of the program In tribute to Nijinsky, which featured performances by the Joffrey Ballet and Rudolf Nureyev, including how much he enjoyed working with Nureyev; Ardolino's use of tapes of the ballets to be filmed to prepare the film crew; editing the takes; deciding when or whether to permit a dancer to take breaks and do additional takes; Ardolino's changing role from producer to director to producer-director; the continuous learning process, for example learning about the use of space from Balanchine; the challenge of filming live performances; his admiration for Paul Taylor; Balanchine's opinion of Ardolino's film of Petrouchka [for In tribute to Nijinsky]; the excitement of working with dancers and choreographers he had admired since a teenager such as Martha Graham; working with John Cage; the respective responsibilities of the director and the producer; the enormous collaborative effort required to produce a program. [Ends abruptly.]

Donor/Sponsor

1. Oral history archive.
2. National Endowment for the Arts, 2007-2008.
3. New York State Council on the Arts, 2007-2008.

Subject

1. Ardolino, Emile
2. Nureyev, Rudolf, 1938-1993
3. Balanchine, George
4. Dance in America
5. Dance in motion pictures, television, etc
6. Group work in art
7. Television film
8. Dance > Documentation

Call number

1. *MGZTL 4-2490

Note

1. Interview with Emile Ardolino conducted by Don McDonagh on Jan. 30, 1981 in New York City.
2. Sound quality is fair. The recording is marred by extraneous noise and occasional short gaps.
3. Open as of August 22, 2012.

Funding (note)

1. Preservation was funded in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, 2007-2008 and the New York State Council on the Arts, 2007-2008.

Source (note)

1. Don McDonagh.

Author

1. Ardolino, Emile. Interviewee

Title

1. Interview with Emile Ardolino [sound recording].

Imprint

1. 1981.

Funding

1. Preservation was funded in part with public funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, 2007-2008 and the New York State Council on the Arts, 2007-2008.

Local note

1. The New York Public Library Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image holds a videocassette recording of the Dance in America television program In tribute to Nijinsky: see *MGZIC 9-245.
2. Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-2490
3. Archive original: *MGZTCO 3-2490

Source

1. Gift; Don McDonagh. NN-PD

Local subject

1. Audiotapes -- Ardolino, E.

Added author

1. McDonagh, Don. Interviewer
2. McDonagh, Don. Donor

Research call number

1. *MGZTL 4-2490 [sound disc]