Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Cullinen, Sonia Robbins.
2. Robbins Rights Trust. dnr
3. Oral history archive.

Found in

1. Jerome Robbins Collection

Description

1. 2 sound discs (ca. 128 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

1. Disc 1. Recorded on April 1, 1975. Jerome Robbins made this recording during a visit he paid to his father, on his way back to New York from a vacation in the Virgin Islands. He begins by describing his hotel room, and narrating his walk to his father's apartment; during this section he mentions a conversation he had with his analyst Shervert Frazier about his relationship with his father. The remainder of the recording contains conversation between Robbins, his father, stepmother, and sister, some of which occurs during a meal. Topics of conversation include the New York City Ballet's Ravel Festival, for which Robbins was creating several ballets; the vacation he had just taken in the Virgin Islands; various friends and family members; Sonia's experiences in a theater workshop, with art therapy and drawing, and on a trip to Switzerland; and Robbins's injury to his achilles tendon. The recording ends abruptly.
2. Disc 2. Recorded on April 1, 1975. This disc records conversations among Jerome Robbins, his father and stepmother, his sister Sonia, and cousins, Anna and Elsie. Topics of conversation include how Sonia and Robbins began dancing; their exposure to culture during their childhoods; family background and members including grandparents on both sides, aunts and uncles; the marriage of Robbins's parents; Sonia's visit to the building where she spent her early childhood; and the family's Jewish identity. During some sections of the recording, the speakers look at and comment on photographs.

Alternative title

1. Jerome Robbins Collection. Audio materials.

Subject

1. Audiotapes > Robbins, J
2. Audiotapes > Cullinen, S
3. Robbins, Jerome > Family

Call number

1. *MGZTL 4-2728 JRC

Note

1. These discs record a visit Jerome Robbins made to his father, Harry Robbins, his stepmother Frieda, and his sister Sonia Robbins Cullinen in Florida. This is one of a group of recordings made by Robbins in the mid-1970's, in the initial stages of planning his autobiographical theater work Poppa piece, containing material he compiled as part of the work's development.
2. Sound quality is good, but there is extraneous noise.

Access (note)

1. Permission required.

Funding (note)

1. Preservation was funded by the Jerome Robbins Foundation.

Source (note)

1. Robbins Rights Trust

Biography (note)

1. Poppa piece was an autobiographical theater work created by Jerome Robbins, incorporating music, dance and dialogue. Planned and developed over many years, Poppa piece was rehearsed in workshops at the Lincoln Center Theater in 1991, but was never produced.

Linking entry (note)

1. Forms part of: Jerome Robbins Collection. Audio materials.

Author

1. Robbins, Jerome.

Title

1. Poppa piece [sound recording] : [family gathering in Florida].

Access

1. Permission required.

Original version

1. Original format : 1 sound cassette (ca. 128 min.; 1 7/8 in. per sec.; 2 channels). Originally recorded 1975.

Funding

1. Preservation was funded by the Jerome Robbins Foundation.

Biography

1. Poppa piece was an autobiographical theater work created by Jerome Robbins, incorporating music, dance and dialogue. Planned and developed over many years, Poppa piece was rehearsed in workshops at the Lincoln Center Theater in 1991, but was never produced.

Linking entry

1. Forms part of: Jerome Robbins Collection. Audio materials.

Local note

1. Archive original: *MGZTCO 3-2728 JRC

Source

1. Gift; Robbins Rights Trust, 2009. NN-PD

Added author

1. Cullinen, Sonia Robbins.
2. Robbins Rights Trust. Donor
3. Oral history archive.

Added title

1. Jerome Robbins Collection. Audio materials.

Found in:

1. Jerome Robbins Collection

Research call number

1. *MGZTL 4-2728 JRC