10 compact discs (approximately 9 hours and 44 minutes.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.
Summary
Compact disc 1, tracks 1-6 (approximately 30 minutes). [Begins abruptly. Sound quality is fair. Chazin-Bennahum's voice is clear but the other speaker, identified as "Midgie", is often difficult to understand.] Judith Chazin-Bennahum speaks with a woman identified only as Midgie about a memorial she attended in honor of Nora Kaye including anecdotes about Kaye and various other dancers including Alicia Alonso, Jerome Robbins, and Margot Fonteyn; songs and dance excerpts performed at the memorial; people she spoke with, including Benjamin Harkarvy and his plans for a Tudor workshop.
Compact disc 1, tracks 7-10, Jan. 6, 1988 (approximately 18 minutes) [Begins abruptly. The recording is marred by almost continuous loud extraneous noise. However the speakers' voices are almost always clearly intelligible.] Sallie Wilson speaks with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about a film of her performing in Antony Tudor's ballet Undertow; other films of Tudor's work, including Romeo and Juliet; her experience coaching dancers in Romeo and Juliet and other Tudor works, in particular her dissatisfaction with their point technique.
CD 2 (approximately 60 minutes), Jan. 6, 1988. [The recording is marred by almost continuous loud extraneous noise. However the speakers' voices are almost always clearly intelligible.] Sallie Wilson speaks with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about Antony Tudor including his work La ronde de printemps; his work Les mains gauches; rehearsing Tudor's ballet Pillar of fire; (briefly) more on Les mains gauches; Tudor as a teacher, at Jacob's Pillow; reasons for her dissatisfaction with the dancers she coaches; her first meeting Tudor as a student in his class; joining Ballet Theatre [later American Ballet Theatre] in 1949 including some of her roles; Tudor's hiring her for the Metropolitan Opera Ballet; (briefly) Margaret Craske; the closing of the old Metropolitan Opera house; her interview with John Gruen [for his 1975 book The private world of ballet]; more on her roles in Tudor's works; his work Le jardin aux lilas; his work Undertow; Tudor's use of music in Le jardin aux lilas; her feelings upon seeing another choreographer's dance set to the music Tudor used for Pillar of fire [Arnold Schönberg's Verklärte Nacht]; Tudor's versatility; more on La ronde de printemps and Tudor's not permitting anyone to watch performances from the wings [ends abruptly].
Compact disc 3 (approximately 1 hour), Jan. 6, 1988. [The recording is marred by almost continuous loud extraneous noise. However the speakers' voices are almost always clearly intelligible.] Sallie Wilson continues to speak with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about Antony Tudor including his rehearsing her in La ronde [de printemps]; her relationship with Lucia Chase; Chase's relationship with Tudor; Agnes de Mille's Fall river legend including how de Mille chose her to dance the role of the Accused; her own experience choreographing; Tudor's Pillar of fire, in particular her experiences and thoughts on performing in it; her thoughts on a recent performance of Tudor's Gala performance; an anecdote about Margaret Craske's first impression of Tudor; Wilson's ability to observe and absorb the dances she saw; Tudor's Dark elegies [short gap]; discussion of mutual acquaintances in the dance world; working with the Paris Opera Ballet on Tudor's ballets including as compared with working with dancers in Italy; her experience with the [Opéra de] Lyon ballet; working with the Pacific Northwest Ballet on Dark elegies and on Lilac garden [Le jardin aux lilas]; her casting method [ends abruptly].
Compact disc 4 (approximately 1 hour), Jan. 6, 1988. [The recording is marred by almost continuous loud extraneous noise, which increases in volume beginning in track 9. However the speakers' voices are almost always clearly intelligible.] Sallie Wilson continues to speak with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about her staging of Antony Tudor's ballets; Ben Stevenson and the Houston Ballet; more on working with the Pacific Northwest Ballet and Francia [Russell]; more on Dark elegies; more on Gala performance; discussion of problems in the training of today's ballet dancers including various examples; (briefly) Tudor's work Fandango; Gelsey Kirkland's book [Dancing on my grave] and drug use by dancers; Patrick Bissell and Amy Rose; the atmosphere [at American Ballet Theatre]; Misha [Mikhail Baryshnikov] and his interest in [having American Ballet Theatre perform] Tudor's work; Tudor's Romeo and Juliet and (very briefly) The leaves are fading; impossibility of knowing why Tudor became a Zen Buddhist.
Compact disc 5 (approximately 52 minutes), Jan. 12, 2013. [The recording is marred by almost continuous extraneous noise. However, the speakers' voices are almost always intelligible.] Sallie Wilson speaks with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about a filmed performance of Jardin [Le jardin aux lilas]; his work Dark lustre; his work Les mains gauches; the possibility of reviving his work Undertow; discussion of a production of Jardin staged by Tudor in London, in particular his harsh treatment of the female lead; Tudor's work Limbo; Hugh Laing including his marriage to Diana Adams; discussion of various Tudor works on film; an anecdote about Olga Maynard and Tudor regarding Wilson's staging of Lilac garden [Le jardin aux lilas] in Cuba [ends abruptly].
Compact disc 6 (approximately 59 minutes), Jan. 12, 1988. [The recording is marred by almost continuous extraneous noise, which increases in volume in track 7. However, the speakers' voices are almost always intelligible.] Sallie Wilson speaks with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about staging Tudor's ballets at the Paris Opera Ballet; the possible Asian influence on Dark elegies; reminiscences of Ballet Arts and other dance studios of the past; her mother; an anecdote about Tudor's reaction to her father's death; Hugh Laing's and Diana Adams' move to New York City Ballet; an anecdote about Gerald Arpino and Tudor; discussion of Tudor's ballet La gloire; the incorporation of Ballet Theatre dancers, including Wilson, into the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in 1949; reminiscences of the old Metropolitan Opera in particular the lighting; her many performances of Pillar [of fire] on tour; an anecdote about presenting Pillar of fire in Russia [the former Soviet Union]; Tudor's definition of ballet, as expressed in notes he made for a seminar [ends abruptly].
Compact disc 7, tracks 1-6 (approximately 28 minutes), Jan. 12, 1989. [The recording is marred by almost continuous, relatively loud extraneous noise, which diminishes in track 4. However, the speakers' voices are almost always intelligible.] Sallie Wilson speaks with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about Antony Tudor including further discussion of his definition of ballet; Tudor as a public lecturer; Wilson's experience speaking to the public; Martha Graham's Episodes 1 [first section of Graham's and Balanchine's Episodes] including working with Graham on her [Wilson's] role; the costumes [gap]; discussion of an unidentified dancer whom Wilson is coaching; the singers in two different productions of Dark elegies.
Compact disc 7, tracks 7-15 (approximately 43 minutes), Jan. 1988. [The voices in this section are soft and often difficult to understand until track 11, when the volume increases. There is also continuous extraneous noise.] After a couple of very brief unrelated statements and gaps, Judith Chazin-Bennahum speaks with a person identified only as Nancy [Nancy Zeckendorf?] about the reviving of certain Tudor ballets including possible sources of relevant information; Tudor's relationship with Ballet Theatre; Lucia Chase and Ballet Theatre's school; finding a successor to Misha [Baryshnikov]; Tudor as a teacher; his lecture notes discussing the definition of ballet.
Compact disc 8 (approximately 1 hour), July 22, 1989. [Statement by Judith Chazin-Bennahum identifying the recording. The recording is marred by almost continuous extraneous noise. However the speakers' voices are almost always intelligible.] Sallie Wilson speaks with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about working on a film of Tudor's works including Dark elegies [possibly A Tudor evening with American Ballet Theatre, a co-production of WNET/Thirteen, New York, and Danmarks Radio; produced by Judy Kinberg and Thomas Grimm and telecast on April 13, 1990]; discussion of Dark elegies; her experience rehearsing various dancers in Tudor works [ends abruptly].
Compact disc 9 (approximately 56 minutes), July 22, 1989. [The recording is marred by almost continuous extraneous noise. However the speakers' voices are almost always intelligible.] Sallie Wilson continues to speak with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about rehearsing dancers in Antony Tudor's works including how she teaches compared with how Tudor taught her; Tudor's work Shadow of the wind; her thoughts on American Ballet Theatre's new production of Swan lake [choreographed by Baryshnikov after Ivanov and Petipa]; Tudor's work La ronde de printemps [gap]; more on La ronde de printemps; his work Pillar of fire including the filming of it [possibly American Ballet Theatre: A close-up in time, telecast on October 8, 1973 by WNET/13-TV, New York]; Maude Lloyd; possible sources of Tudor's interest in Asian culture; her emotional attachment to Tudor; his work Shadowplay; his work La gloire [ends abruptly].
Compact disc 10 (approximately 40 minutes), July 22, 1989. [The recording is marred by almost continuous extraneous noise. However the speakers' voices are almost always intelligible.] Sallie Wilson continues to speak with Judith Chazin-Bennahum about Antony Tudor including his inability to create a completely abstract ballet; discussion of his The leaves are fading; performing in Italy including the roles of Madame la Fourmi in the ballet Mlle Cigale and as Lady Capulet in Romeo and Juliet; her thoughts on keeping Tudor's ballet alive including with respect to recent revivals of Gala performance and Le jardin aux lilas [ends abruptly; the remaining approximate 20 minutes of the recording consists of unrelated recorded telephone messages and ambient noise].
Alternative title
Judith Chazin-Bennahum collection of Antony Tudor audio material.
Interview with Sallie Wilson conducted by Judith Chazin-Bennahum in New York City on Jan. 6 and 12, 1988 and on July 22, 1989. This interview was conducted as part of Chazin-Bennahum's research for her book The ballets of Antony Tudor: studies in psyche and satire (1994).
The first six tracks of compact disc 1 (approximately 30 minutes) consists mainly of Judith Chazin-Bennahum speaking with a woman identified only as Midgie about a memorial she attended in honor of Nora Kaye. The interview with Sallie Wilson begins approximately 10 seconds into track 7. Also, tracks 7-15 (approximately 43 minutes) of compact disc 7 contain a discussion between Chazin-Bennahum and a female speaker identified only as Nancy (possibly Nancy Zeckendorf) about the possibility of reviving certain Tudor ballets and other topics relating to American Ballet Theatre. In addition the final approximate 20 minutes of compact disc 10 consists of ambient noise and unrelated recorded telephone messages.
Sound quality is fair to poor and can vary greatly in clarity. There is some distortion due to deterioration of the original recording, and the speakers are not always easy to understand. There is also considerable extraneous noise at times and occasional short gaps. However, for the most part the speakers' voices are intelligible.
Title supplied by cataloger based on handwritten note on original container.
Access (note)
Permission required. Permission for access must be given by any of the Curator, Assistant Curator, or Oral History Coordinator of the Dance Division. Restrictions to be removed on Jan. 1, 2018.
Source (note)
Gift;
Author
Wilson, Sallie, interviewee.
Title
Interview with Sallie Wilson. Jan. 6 and 12 1988 and July 22,1989, 1988-1989.
Production
1988-1989.
Type of content
spoken word
Type of medium
audio
Type of carrier
audio disc
Access
Permission required. Permission for access must be given by any of the Curator, Assistant Curator, or Oral History Coordinator of the Dance Division. Restrictions to be removed on Jan. 1, 2018.
Original version
Original format : 6 microcassettes (approximately 9 hours and 44 minutes; 0.9375 in. per sec. ; half-track). Originally recorded in 1988 and 1989.
Local note
Archival original: *MGZTCO 2-2925 1-6
Local subject
Audiotapes -- Wilson, S.
Added author
Chazin-Bennahum, Judith, interviewer.
Judith Chazin-Bennahum, donor
Added title
Judith Chazin-Bennahum collection of Antony Tudor audio material.