Research Catalog

Title

Interview and lecture-demonstration with Ruth St. Denis

Author

St. Denis, Ruth, 1880-1968

Publication

1963

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Terry, Walter
• 92nd Street Y (New York, N.Y.)

Description

2 streaming audio files (approximately one hour and 19 minutes): digital

Summary

• Streaming audio file 1 (approximately 45 minutes). Walter Terry speaks about Ruth St. Denis; including the uncertainty regarding how old she is; her first professional performance; her personal background and career including several anecdotes. Terry introduces St. Denis; in response to his questions St. Denis speaks about dance in America at the beginning of her career; the events that inspired her career in dance: a performance by Genevieve Stebbins and the two spectacles, Egypt through centuries in Palisades Park (N.J.)., and The burning of Rome, in New York City; her three favorite books when she was a child; her early work Egypta and how it reflects her theory of artistic creation and androgyny; what she feels is her most important contribution to American dance; her dancing compared to that of Isadora Duncan's. [Applause.]
• Streaming audio file 2 (approximately 34 minutes). [Applause.] In response to questions from Walter Terry, Ruth St. Denis speaks about the use of fabric in dance costumes; Loie Fuller, including her Lily dance and her inspired use of lighting; dance and longevity; an anecdote about a party honoring Olga Preobrajenska; Isadora Duncan's influence on ballet technique; presenting her dance O-Mika to the Japan Society; Ted Shawn's Japanese spear dance and his Cosmic dance of Siva; her rhythmic choirs; her plans for the future. Terry speaks about St. Denis's work Incense, which she is to dance following an intermission in the program [the music that accompanies Incense, played by Jesse Meeker, is heard followed by applause].

Donor/Sponsor

• National Initiative to Preserve American Dance.
• Gift of Walter Terry.

Alternative Title

Dance Audio Archive

Subjects

• Incense (Choreographic work : St Denis)
• Sound recordings
• Fuller, Loie, 1862-1928
• Egypta (Choreographic work : St Denis)
• St. Denis, Ruth, 1880-1968 > Lectures

Genre/Form

Sound recordings.

Note

• Interview and lecture-demonstration with Ruth St. Denis recorded on January 27, 1963 as the third program in the 1962 -1963 season of Walter Terry's series, Dance laboratory, given at the Young Men's-Young Women's Hebrew Association, 92nd Street, New York (known as the 92nd Street Y).
• The sound quality is good overall.
• The processing and cataloging of this recording was made possible in part by the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of Governor Andrew Cuomo and the New York State Legislature. The support of the National Endowment for the Arts is also gratefully acknowledged.
• Title supplied by cataloger.

Access (note)

• Access only on site at the research libraries of The New York Public Library.

Call Number

*MGZTO 7-60

OCLC

1057122439

Author

St. Denis, Ruth, 1880-1968, speaker.

Title

Interview and lecture-demonstration with Ruth St. Denis

Imprint

1963

Type of Content

spoken word

Type of Medium

audio

Type of Carrier

online resource

Digital File Characteristics

audio file

Event

Recorded at Walter Terry's series, Dance laboratory, at the Young Men's-Young Women's Hebrew Association, 92nd Street, New York January 27, 1963 New York (N.Y.)

Restricted Access

Access only on site at the research libraries of The New York Public Library.

Original Version

Original format: one sound reel (approximately one hour and 19 minutes); polyester, half-track, 7.5 ips; 7 in.; transferred to wav file and streaming file format in 2015: myd_mgzto760_v01f01_sc and myd_mgzto760_v01f02_sc.

Local Note

Former call number: *MGZTC 3-60

Former call number: *MGZT 7-60

Former call number: *MGZTC 3-829

For another recording of the St. Denis program, see *MGZTL 4-30A.

Local Note

Archival original: *MGZTO 7-60; 7 1/2 in. per sec.; 7 in. reel; polyester, half track.

Dubbing master: *MGZTD 10-60; 7 1/2 in. per sec.; 10 in. reel; polyester.

Preservation funded by the National Initiative to Preserve American Dance.

Connect to:

NYPL Digital Collections

Added Author

Terry, Walter, host.

92nd Street Y (New York, N.Y.)

Research Call Number

*MGZTO 7-60