Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Igor Youskevitch [sound recording].

Author

Youskevitch, Igor, 1912-1994.

Publication

1974-75, 1977.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Hunt, Marilyn, 1937-

Description

14 sound discs (ca. 730 min.) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1, Dec. 18, 1974 (ca. 61 min.). Igor Youskevitch speaks with Marilyn Hunt about his teaching at the University of Texas [at Austin] and current physical activities; his choreographing, including for his company Ballet Romantique and the University of Texas; his restaging of Giselle for Houston [Houston Ballet Foundation] including his interpretation of Albrecht; different approaches when reviving classical ballets with examples from Giselle and Swan lake; his first experience dancing the role of Albrecht including Boris Kochno's coaching; more on his restaging of Giselle including the production with Alicia Alonso for the Greek Theatre in Hollywood [Los Angeles, Calif.] and, in particular, differences from earlier versions; choreographic changes Balanchine made to Swan lake, for Diaghilev; changes Youskevitch and Alonso made; the difficulty of assigning a nationality to a style or work including an anecdote about David Libidins and American Ballet Theatre [ends abruptly but resumes directly on disc 2].
• Disc 2, Dec. 18, 1974 (ca. 38 min.). Igor Youskevitch continues to speak with Marilyn Hunt about the assigning of a nationality to a dancer's style or works, including his experience studying with Olga Preobrajenska , who had studied with [Enrico] Cecchetti; the French style compared with the Italian school; briefly, Preobrajenska as a teacher; the dance program at the University of Texas, including its problems as well as his aims for it; his idea of inviting choreographers to try out new works on his students including an anecdote about Agnes de Mille, her work Three virgins and a devil, and Lucia Chase; choreographing for a local production of Aida; his poetry writing [continues on disc 3].
• Disc 3, Dec. 18, 1974 (ca. 57 min.). Igor Youskevitch recites some of his poetry for the interviewer, Marilyn Hunt; speaks about movement and coordination in dance, including discussion of the book by Lulu E. Sweigard: Human movement potential: its ideokinetic facilitation; briefly, his family background and his prior career as a gymnast; his impressions of the opera Tsar Sultan [by Rimsky-Korsakov]; the circumstances of his becoming a dancer after emigrating to Yugoslavia; his childhood in Ukraine, in particular during World War I and the civil war in Russia, and the family's escape to Yugoslavia via Odessa.
• Disc 4, Dec. 19, 1974 (ca. 61 min.). Igor Youskevitch speaks further with Marilyn Hunt about the staging of Giselle including an anecdote about Alicia Markova; recites a sonnet he wrote; speaks about current dance and choreography including multimedia works and modern dance, and (very briefly) current choreographers; working with Jerome Robbins; reasons choreographers must be tough with dancers; dancing Spectre de la rose for Michel Fokine in London, including an anecdote about Léon Woizikowski and Youskevitch's innovative costume; an anecdote about Fokine and Woizikowski's staging of his Polovetsian dances; dancing Romeo for Antony Tudor in Tudor's Romeo and Juliet, including how Youskevitch's approach differed from that of Hugh [Laing]; Laing as a dancer [ends abruptly but continues directly on disc 5].
• Disc 5, Dec. 19, 1974 (ca. 47 min.). Igor Youskevitch continues to speak with Marilyn Hunt about Hugh Laing as a dancer, in particular in Giselle; dancing for Antony Tudor in his Shadow of the wind; briefly, working with Frederick Ashton at an early stage in Ashton's career; working with Leonide Massine in connection with his work Labyrinth including the changes Youskevitch made to the costume [designed by Salvador Dali] that was worn by André Eglevsky at the debut, and Dali's reaction; Massine as a choreographer [short break]; his experiences performing in Gene Kelly's film Invitation to the dance including the problems he had dancing for the camera; his small choreographic contributions to the film.
• Disc 6, Dec. 19. 1974 or Jan. 3, 1975 (ca. 61 min.). Igor Youskevitch speaks with Marilyn Hunt about how he made the change from a gymnast to a dancer; his early dance career, including with the Ballet de Paris; his teacher in Paris, Olga Preobrajenska, as a teacher and as a person; briefly, [Matilʹda Feliksovna] Kshesinska︠i︡a and [Lubov] Egorova; his short tenure in Bronislava Nijinska's company; dancing with Léon Woizikowski's company, the Ballets de Léon Woizikowski, including Colonel W. de Basil's involvement and the Australian tour; his preference for roles that require acting as compared with roles in abstract ballets; briefly, the nature of the repertoire of Woizikowski's company; the approach to technique; dancing with Vera Nemchinova; the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, which he joined as a lead dancer, including his cordial rivalry with André Eglevsky [ends abruptly but continues directly on disc 7].
• Disc 7, Dec. 19. 1974 or Jan. 3, 1975 (ca. 37 min.). Igor Youskevitch continues to speak with Marilyn Hunt about the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo including Sergei Denham as a financial manager and as an artistic director; Youskevitch's experience as artistic adviser including his [never-realized] idea of having José Limón choreograph for the company; his friendship with Limón and admiration for his work; reminsces about David Libidins including his acting as Youskevitch's business manager; briefly, Agnes de Mille; some of his partners including how he worked with Irina Baronova and Alicia Alonso; discussion of an interview given by Romola Nijinska; his tour of duty in the U.S. Navy [ends abruptly].
• Disc 8, Dec. 19. 1974 or Jan. 3, 1975 (ca. 46 min.). Igor Youskevitch continues to speak with Marilyn Hunt about his tour of duty in the U.S. Navy including his continuing to take class; Leonide Massine's small company Ballet Russe Highlights; joining Ballet Theatre (later American Ballet Theatre) including an anecdote about Sergei Denham's sabotaging of his appearance with Ballet Theatre when he was still in the Navy; the beginning of his partnership with Alicia Alonso, in the Black Swan pas de deux; the company today, from an artistic viewpoint; his coaching of dancers; more on the company today; male dancing including what he describes as its feminization; briefly, Baryshnikov as compared to Nureyev; very briefly, dancing Stanley in Streetcar named Desire; the three main styles in ballet and how modern dance relates to what was traditionally called "grotesque style."
• Disc 9, Jan. 3, 1975 (ca. 61 min.). Igor Youskevitch speaks with Marilyn Hunt about his experiences at the Russian Opera in Paris; his wedding, to Anna Scarpova, in London; his wife as an artistic adviser; Leonide Massine as a choreographer; Bronislava Nijinska as a choreographer; briefly, dancing with Alicia Alonso in Alberto Alonso's different versions of Romeo and Juliet; Youskevitch's choreographing of Romeo and Juliet; Alexandra Fedorova [Alexandra Fedorova-Fokine]; helping Alicia Alonso to stage Swan lake in Cuba; more on his preference for roles that require expressiveness; his difficulty learning the ballet Apollo; his relationship with Balanchine including his attempts to interest him in choreographing a dramatic ballet; his ideas for new ballets; the role of Albrecht including his first time dancing the role, in London; working on the ballet with Alicia [Alonso]; his opinion of the Eugene Berman designs for American Ballet Theatre's Giselle [ends abruptly but continues directly on disc 10].
• Disc 10, Jan. 3, 1975 (ca. 51 min.). Igor Youskevitch continues to speak with Marilyn Hunt about the Eugene Berman designs for a American Ballet Theatre production of Giselle including an anecdote about the results of his discussion of it with Balanchine; filming Giselle with Nora Kaye for television; Alicia Alonso as Giselle compared with Alicia Markova; Coppélia including his view of the characters Franz and Swanilda and his approach to the ballet overall; how he prepares for different roles; more on Bronislava Nijinska; his thoughts on music for dance; Igor Stravinsky including an anecdote in connection with a film, never produced, about Anna Pavlova to be made with Balanchine and Tamara Toumanova in Hollywood; more about the film including working with Balanchine and Toumanova and why the film was not completed.
• Disc 11, June 20, 1975 (ca. 61 min.). Igor Youskevitch speaks with Marilyn Hunt about his partnership with Alicia Alonso including their repertoire, their professional rapport, and the manner in which they worked together; Alonso as a person and as a dancer; Apollo including Youskevitch's opinion of how Nureyev danced it; their work with Balanchine with respect to his Theme and variations including an anecdote about his choreographing of the variation for Youskevitch [short gap]; his relationship with American Ballet Theatre, including (briefly) his artistic differences with Antony Tudor and his relationship with Lucia Chase; the circumstances of his leaving the company including Chase's reaction; Alonso's departure from American Ballet Theatre; her company in Cuba including Youskevitch's involvement with it [ends abruptly but continues directly on disc 12].
• Disc 12, June 20, 1975 (ca. 70 min.). Igor Youskevitch continues to speak with Marilyn Hunt about Alonso's company in Cuba including his experiences dancing with the company; briefly, Alberto Alonso's, Fernando Alonso's, and Alicia Alonso's respective relationships with the company; briefly, staging Swan lake with Alicia Alonso including restoring the role of the jester; the coming to power of Castro and its effect on the company including the decision of Youskevitch and other U.S. dancers to leave; his break with Alicia Alonso; his own company Ballet Romantique including his funding problems, in particular with the New York State Council on the Arts; the Igor Youskevitch School of Dance; his daughter, Maria Youskevitch, as a dancer and her relationship with American Ballet Theatre; at request of the interviewer, attempts to summarize his career including his late start and his relative conservatism; his thoughts on teaching.
• Disc 13, Jan. 6, 1977 (ca. 61 min.). Igor Youskevitch speaks with Marilyn Hunt about his partnership with Alicia Markova, including their points of disagreement and his view of her technique; her brief partnership with Serge Lifar; Markova as a person; the South American tour; an anecdote about dancing Giselle with Markova in Chicago [brief break]; his relationship with and thoughts on Lucia Chase and American Ballet Theatre's star system [ends abruptly but continues directly on disc 14].
• Disc 14, Jan. 6, 1977 (ca. 19 min.). Igor Youskevitch continues to speak with Marilyn Hunt about American Ballet Theatre and Lucia Chase including his daughter, Maria Youskevitch's relationship with the company; more on Chase, including her favoring of certain dancers, for example John Kriza; the relationship of Chase and Ballet Theatre with Alicia Alonso and her company in Cuba; the circumstances of Chase's commissioning of Balanchine to create Theme and variations and Youskevitch's comments on Balanchine's working method.

Alternative Title

• Dance Oral History Project
• Dance Audio Archive

Subjects

• Balanchine, George
• Youskevitch, Maria
• Alonso, Alicia, 1920-2019
• Labyrinth (Choreographic work : Massine)
• Massine, Leonide, 1896-1979
• Youskevitch, Anna Scarpova
• Markova, Alicia, Dame, 1910-2004
• Giselle (Choreographic work)
• Dance > Study and teaching
• Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
• Chase, Lucia, 1897-1986
• Spectre de la rose (Choreographic work : Fokine)
• Nijinska, Bronislava, 1891-1972
• Woizikowski, Léon
• Youskevitch, Igor, 1912-1994
• Audiotapes > Youskevitch, I

Note

• Interview with Igor Youskevitch conducted by Marilyn Hunt on Dec. 18 and 19, 1974, Jan. 3 and June 20, 1975 and on Jan. 6, 1977 at the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center as part of the Library's Oral History Project. The content of discs 1- 12 was recorded between Dec. 18, 1974 and June 20, 1975; the contents of discs 13-14 was recorded on Jan. 6, 1977.
• Sound quality is excellent.

Funding (note)

• Preservation was funded in part by National Endowment for the Arts, 2010-2011.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-222

OCLC

78846919

Author

Youskevitch, Igor, 1912-1994. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Igor Youskevitch [sound recording].

Imprint

1974-75, 1977.

Original Version

Original format : 6 sound reels (ca. 730 min.; 1 7/8 in. per sec.; 5"; polyester, 2 channels, half track). Originally recorded in 1974-1977.

Funding

Preservation was funded in part by National Endowment for the Arts, 2010-2011.

Local Note

For transcript of audio recording, see: *MGZMT 5-222.

For transcript of the audio recording, see *MGZMT 5-222.

For transcript of interview, see *MGZMT 5-222.

Archive original: *MGZTO 5-222 no. 1-6

Added Author

Hunt, Marilyn, 1937- Interviewee

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-222