Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Betty Low [sound recording].

Author

Low, Betty.

Publication

2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Schneider, Bill.
• National Endowment for the Arts, 2007-2008.
• New York State Council on the Arts, 2007-2008.

Description

2 sound discs (ca. 133 min.): digital; 4 3/4 in. +

Summary

• Disc 1 (ca. 73 min.). Betty Low speaks with Bill Schneider about the origin of her stage name, Lumila Lvova; her family background; early teachers and dancing experiences; joining the Ballets russes du Col. W. de Basil; anecdotes about her early days in the company including touring across the U.S.A. by train; reminisces about David Lichine and Leonid Massine; briefly mentions her favorite ballet from that period, Noblissima visione; speaks about the [2005] documentary Ballets Russes; briefly describes the types of works performed during the company's American tours; briefly talks about living conditions, salary, and expenses while on tour; the South American tour and the negotiations between Col. W. de Basil and AGMA [American Guild of Musical Artists]; describes a typical day in the company; a short anecdote about Pablo Picasso; the dancers' strike while on tour in Havana, Cuba including their hardships and the financial donations they received; her perspective on the outcome of the strike and its historical impact; thoughts on the sacrifices that dancers make; her perspective on dancers' aging process.
• Disc 2 (ca.60 min.). Betty Low continues to speak with Bill Schneider about the Cuban tour including her sickness, the ongoing strike and leaving Cuba; more on her student days, including her experiences in Nikolai Legat's class and his reputation as a master teacher of the Cecchetti technique; briefly reminisces about Margot Fonteyn, Frederic Franklin, and Alicia Alonso; a performance mishap with Alberto Alonso as her partner; her marriage to Robert Pagent [stage name: Anton Vlasov; birth name: Robert Weisser] and his leaving Cuba to perform with Leonide Massine's company [Ballet russe de Monte Carlo]; her return to New York to join Massine; briefly speaks of other New York dance companies performing at that time; the birth of her son Anthony; telling Massine of her pregnancy; Massine's creative process; the impact of her pregnancy, returning to Canada, and giving birth; returning to New York and performing as Octavia in Katharine Cornell's 1948 production of Antony and Cleopatra; her work in theater, and reasons for retiring from ballet; her relationship with Agnes de Mille; brief description of de Mille's work process; anecdote about de Mille and her musician Trudy Whitman; anecdote about a costume made for Katharine Cornell by Martha Graham; speaks on performing in de Mille's musical comedy Bloomer girl; thoughts about the impact of historical events on live performances; working with Jerome Robbins; anecdote about Maureen Stapleton and Marlon Brando; teaching and directing in the drama department at Finch College; her son's marriage and grandson's birth; her work in early television; her grandson and great-grandsons; anecdote about Jerome Robbins and the idea for the ballet, Fancy free; her other work on Broadway; anecdote about her portrait by Yousuf Karsh; her memories of Armistice Day.

Alternative Title

• Dance Oral History Project.
• Dance Audio Archive.

Subjects

• De Mille, Agnes
• Low, Betty
• Strikes and lockouts > Performing arts
• Ballets russes du Col. W. de Basil
• Cornell, Katharine, 1893-1974
• Robbins, Jerome
• Audiotapes > Low, B
• Musicals > Bloomer girl
• Dance company tours
• Massine, Leonide, 1896-1979
• Lichine, David
• Pagent, Robert

Note

• Interview with Betty Low conducted by Bill Schneider on May 29 and June 4, 2008 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City as part of the Oral History Project.
• For transcript see: *MGZMT 3-2581.

Access (note)

• Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Funding (note)

• The assistance of the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts is gratefully acknowledged.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2581

OCLC

501174807

Author

Low, Betty. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Betty Low [sound recording].

Imprint

2008.

Funding

The assistance of the New York State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts is gratefully acknowledged.

Restricted Access

Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Local Subject

Dance company tours.

Added Author

Schneider, Bill. Interviewer

National Endowment for the Arts, 2007-2008.

New York State Council on the Arts, 2007-2008.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2581

*MGZMT 3-2581