Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Neil Greenberg [sound recording]

Author

Greenberg, Neil, 1959-

Publication

1995.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Kraft, Susan, 1961-
• DHCA

Description

7 sound cassettes (9 hr., 30 min.) +

Summary

• Cassette 1 (90 min.). Recorded Feb. 27, 1995. Mr. Greenberg discusses his childhood in Minnesota; his family life; first dance classes; becoming aware of homosexuality; his first choreography; the impact of Judaism on his childhood; his first experience seeing the choreography of Merce Cunningham, Twyla Tharp and others; graduating from high school early; moving to New York to attend the Juilliard School; getting hired by the Feld Ballet and being fired a few months later; working with small modern dance companies; studying at the Cunningham school; his developing interest in choreography; Cunningham's invitation to join the Merce Cunningham Dance Company; learning his parts from videotape and other experiences in the company.
• Cassette 2 (90 min.). Recorded Mar. 6, 1995. Mr. Greenberg further discusses the Merce Cunningham Dance Company and his relationship with Mr. Cunningham; Cunningham's creative process and personality; Cunningham's choreographies Channels/Inserts and Fielding sixes; his own changing attitudes towards dance training and discussing these attitudes with Cunningham; Susan Klein and her technique; drug and alcohol use; and studying ballet with Janet Panetta.
• Cassette 3 (30 min.). Recorded Mar. 6, 1995. Mr. Greenberg discusses his development as a dancer; new responsibilities; teaching at SUNY Purchase; his classes and philosophy of teaching; modernism; first choreography at Dance Theater Workshop; other early works and influences, including the Wooster Group; and interpretations of his work.
• Cassette 4 (90 min.). Recorded Mar. 13, 1995. Mr. Greenberg discusseshis decision to leave the Merce Cunningham Dance Company; talk with Cunningham about his decision and other issues concerning Cunningham; his Not-about-AIDS-dance; the development of his work up to that point, involving text, movement choices, subject matter and improvisation; his brother's death; his own attempt to face up to being HIV positive in the process of creating this dance; rhythm; his choreographic process; the dancers in his company; and his choreography MacGuffin.
• Cassette 5 (30 min.). Recorded Mar. 13, 1995. Mr. Greenberg discusses his changing work process; Cunningham's Sounddance; subjectivity and objectivity in dance; deconstructivism; the videotape of Not-about-AIDS-dance; his hopes for the piece and the development of the text.
• Cassette 6 (90 min.). Recorded Oct. 4, 1995. Mr. Greenberg discusses his choreography MacGuffin; collaboration with lighting designer Michael Stiller; abstraction and formalism in dance; deconstruction; text; coaching his dancers; acting and dancing; issues of performance; his choreography Amnesty; ways of creating structure and movement; collaboration with composer Zeena Parkins and his own use of music.
• Cassette 7 (90 min.). Recorded Oct. 4 and 13, 1995. Mr. Greenberg discusses the sources and development of his choreography The disco project; the relationship of disco and AIDS; his role as a performer in his own choreography; the conditions under which choreographers work; the death of Frank Maya; his curatorship at The Kitchen. Mr. Greenberg praises the dancers with whom he has worked and discusses the undervalued role of dancers and his own HIV status.

Alternative Title

• Dance Oral History Project.
• Dance Audio Archive.

Subjects

• Merce Cunningham Dance Company
• Amnesty (Choreographic work : Greenberg)
• Disco project (Choreographic work : Greenberg)
• Wooster Group
• AIDS (Disease)
• Panetta, Janet
• Klein, Susan T
• MacGuffin (Choreographic work : Greenberg)
• Disco dancing
• Klein technique
• Cunningham, Merce
• Dance > Philosophy
• Parkins, Zeena
• Modern dance > Technique > Cunningham
• Fielding sixes (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
• Stiller, Michael
• Sounddance (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
• Juilliard School > Dance Division
• AIDS (Disease) and the arts
• Modernism (Aesthetics)
• Not-about-AIDS-dance (Choreographic work : Greenberg)
• Kitchen Center for Video, Music, Dance, Performance, Film, and Literature (New York, N.Y.)
• Channels/Inserts (Choreographic work : Cunningham)
• Feld Ballet

Note

• Interviewed by Susan Kraft at the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and other locations.
• For transcript see *MGZMT 3-1886.

Access (note)

• Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Call Number

*MGZMT 3-1886

OCLC

NYPY96-R3

Author

Greenberg, Neil, 1959- Interviewee

Title

Interview with Neil Greenberg [sound recording]

Imprint

1995.

Local Note

Preservation master cassette in: *MGZTCO 3-1886.

Archival transcript in: *MGZMTO 3-1886.

Restricted Access

Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Local Subject

Klein technique.

Added Author

Kraft, Susan, 1961- Interviewer

DHCA

Research Call Number

*MGZMT 3-1886 [Transcript]

*MGZTC 3-1886 [Cassette]