- Additional Authors
- Conway, Peter, 1929 July 18-
- Description
- 2 streaming audio files (approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes): digital
- Summary
- Streaming file 1, May 7, 1979 (approximately one hour and 37 minutes). Frederic Franklin speaks with Peter Conway about Keith Lester and his ballet David, created for the Markova-Dolin Ballet Company; Walter Gore including his ballet Eaters of darkness; Anna Pavlova including his memories of her Dying swan and other roles; her charisma; his one encounter with Olga Spessivtzeva; his impressions of Lydia Lopakova; Russian ballet training and Russian style including as compared with English training and style; British male dancers in the 1930s including Anton Dolin, Robert Helpmann, Walter Gore, Stanley Judson, and Harold Turner; British ballerinas including Margot Fonteyn, Moira Shearer, and Pamela May; Antony Tudor and his early ballets, including their greater popularity in the United States than in England; George Balanchine and the initial resistance to his work; more on English dancers in the 1930s including their being permitted individuality on stage; the high level of technique and relative lack of dramatic ability of dancers today; performance anecdotes about Alicia Markova; working with Balanchine including learning Balanchine's Danses concertantes, with Alexandra Danilova; his relationship with Markova; why Dolin was not asked to join the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; Moira Shearer and Margot Fonteyn; more on the narrow focus and lack of theatrical training of dancers today.
- Streaming file 2, May 8, 1979 (approximately one hour and 38 minutes). Frederic Franklin speaks with Peter Conway about the beginnings of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo including the chaotic scene when he first arrived in Monte Carlo and anecdotes about various dancers aspiring to join the company; the polyglot and multinational character of the company dancers; working with Leonide Massine; his early roles including the Golden slave in [Michel Fokine's] Schéhérazade; the Moor in [Fokine's] Petrouchka including a rehearsal anecdote involving Alexandra Danilova, himself, and Massine; some of the other male dancers in the company; life in the company, including many anecdotes; Boris Kochno; Massine's work Bogatyri; anecdotes about Danilova; Mia Slavenska and other ballerinas in the company; Fokine's work Les elfes including the costumes; Fokine's work Les éléments; more on Bogatyri; Frederick Ashton and his work The devil's holiday; working with Ashton; Danilova in The devil's holiday compared with Markova; Massine's symphonic ballets including his roles in Massine's Seventh symphony and his Rouge et noir.
- Alternative Title
- Dance Oral History Project.
- Dance Audio Archive.
- Subjects
- Franklin, Frederic, 1914-2013 > Interviews
- Oral histories
- Sound recordings
- Devil's holiday (Choreographic work : Ashton)
- Rouge et noir (Choreographic work : Massine)
- Éléments (Choreographic work : Fokin)
- Elfes (Choreographic work : Fokin)
- Bogatyri (Choreographic work : Massine)
- Kochno, Boris
- Danilova, Alexandra, 1907-1997
- Spessivtzeva, Olga, 1895-1991
- Lester, Keith, 1904-1993
- Markova, Alicia, Dame, 1910-2004
- Shearer, Moira, 1926-2006
- Fonteyn, Margot, 1919-1991
- Dolin, Anton, 1904-1983
- Slavenska, Mia
- Pavlova, Anna, 1881-1931
- Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
- Genre/Form
- Sound recordings.
- Oral histories.
- Note
- For transcript of interview see *MGZMT 5-1095, volumes 3-6, pages 140A-285.
- Interview with Frederic Franklin conducted by Peter Conway for the Jerome Robbins Dance Division Oral History Project at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, on May 7 and 8, 1979. Part 1 (April 30 and May 1, 1979), Part 3 (May 11 and 18, 1979), Part 4 (October 24 and 25, 1979), Part 5 (October 9, 12, and 22, 1981), Part 6 (October 22 and 27, 1981), and Part 7 (November 3 and 5, 1981) are cataloged separately.
- Title supplied by cataloger.
- Sound quality is good overall. The recording is marred by occasional fluctuations in volume, extraneous noise, and short gaps, but the speakers' voices are always easily intelligible.
- Access (note)
- Access only on site at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center
- Funding (note)
- The conservation 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.
- Call Number
- *MGZTO 5-1095
- OCLC
- 994684780
- Author
Franklin, Frederic, 1914-2013, interviewee.
- Title
Interview with Frederic Franklin. Part 2 of 7: May 7 and May 8, 1979
- Imprint
1979
- Type of Content
spoken word
- Type of Medium
audio
- Type of Carrier
online resource
- Digital File Characteristics
audio file
- Restricted Access
Access only on site at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center
- Event
Recorded by Peter Conway for The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts May 7 and 8, 1979 New York (N.Y.)
- Funding
The conservation 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.
- Original Version
Original format: one sound reel (approximately 3 hours and 15 minutes); polyester; half-track; 1.875 ips; 5 in.; transferred to wav file and streaming file format in 2015: myd_mgzto51095_v02f01_sc and myd_mgzto51095_v02f02_sc.
- Local Note
Former call number: *MGZT 5-1095
- Connect to:
- Added Author
Conway, Peter, 1929 July 18- interviewer
- Research Call Number
*MGZTO 5-1095