- Additional Authors
- Description
- 1 streaming video file (51 min.) : sound, color.
- Summary
- Carolyn Webb introduces Yvette Martinez as a highly regarded dancer, choreographer, musician, cultural educator, arts administrator, researcher, and artistic director of Retumba!, an Afro Caribbean women's drum and dance ensemble that recently celebrated its 34th anniversary in New York City. Martinez discusses being a member of the Puerto Rican dance company, Baila Boricua; creating her company of all-women, Retumba! originally for a performance celebrating Women's International Day on March 8, 1981. Martinez emphasizes the importance of education with her goal to bring beauty and history to schools through dance and music. She was born and raised in the South Bronx, New York. Her Puerto Rican cultural heritage was instilled by her parents through music and dance. As a child she was motivated to create movement by listening to all sounds and watching the ballet. After her parents separated, her mother could not afford dance classes but she was able to participate in school performances. Her mother took the family to matinee shows at Teatro Puerto Rico on 138th Street (South Bronx) that showed a movie followed by a variety show with a live band. Martinez attended Aguinas High School in the Bronx where she took dance classes and belonged to an after school program called Aspira that focused on embracing cultural awareness. She discusses wanting to become a lab technichian as a child and her interest in research and healing medicine. She attended the Bronx Community College where she studied modern dance, acting, diction, and music; also joined a dance company at Hunter College named, Baila Boricua. She speaks in depth about the history and types of Bomba dance. She cites Roberto Burrell, from Havana, Cuba as an inspiration in her artistic life. She has invited many artists to choreograph for her company including Eddie Torres, Roberto Burrell, Xiomara Rodriguez, Marco, and Edwina Tyler. She studied with Lavinia Williams, and attended the Katherine Dunham Summer Institute. Her production, Journey to the Caribbean, is discussed in detail and some of Martinez's special awards and community recognition are mentioned. She worked as an arts administrator from 1986-1995 with the Arts Connection Program in NYC and speaks about her lifelong ambition to work with children. This interview concludes with Martinez dancing the Bomba, accompanied by Nancy Friedman, an original founding percussionist of Retumba!
- Uniform Title
- African Dance Interview Project
- Alternative Title
- Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image original documentation
- Subjects
- Genre/Form
- Dance.
- Video.
- Interviews.
- Filmed dance.
- Nonfiction films.
- Note
- Widescreen.
- This interview was made possible by the cooperation of the Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.
- Access (note)
- Patrons can access this streaming video file online.
- Credits (note)
- Videographer, Mamadou Niang.
- Funding (note)
- This recording was made possible by Mertz Gilmore Foundation.
- African Dance Interview Project funded by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation.
- Call Number
- *MGZIDF 6202
- OCLC
- 939531137
- Title
Interview with Yvette Martinez : Bronx, New York / conducted by Carolyn Webb ; project director, Carolyn Webb.
- Production
2015.
- Country of Producing Entity
U.S.
- Type of Content
two-dimensional moving image
- Type of Medium
computer
- Type of Carrier
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
video file streaming H.264
- Series
African Dance Interview Project
- Access
Patrons can access this streaming video file online.
- Event
Videotaped during an interview at the NextMedia.tv Studio, New York, N.Y., as part of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation funded African Dance Interview Project 2015 September 12.
- Performer
Interviewee, Yvette Martinez ; interviewer, Carolyn Webb.
- Credits
Videographer, Mamadou Niang.
- Funding
This recording was made possible by Mertz Gilmore Foundation.
African Dance Interview Project funded by the Mertz Gilmore Foundation.
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Martinez, Yvette, interviewee.
Webb, Carolyn (Carolyn Jeannette), interviewer.
Webb, Carolyn (Carolyn Jeannette), project director.
Niang, Mamadou, videographer.
Mertz Gilmore Foundation, presenter.
New York Public Library. Dance Division, presenter.
- Added Title
Jerome Robbins Archive of the Recorded Moving Image original documentation
- Research Call Number
*MGZIDF 6202