Research Catalog

Title

Interview with John Kriza [sound recording].

Author

Kriza, John.

Publication

1975.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Kramer, Joan.

Description

2 sound discs (ca. 76 min.) : digital; (4 3/4 in.)

Summary

• Disc 1 (ca. 38 min.). John Kriza speaks with Joan Kramer about his early dance training, with Bentley Stone; his first job, with Ruth Page; his family's view of his dancing as a career; auditioning for and joining Ballet Theatre [now American Ballet Theatre]; touring in South America with Ruth Page; performing in musical comedies for economic reasons while a member of Ballet Theatre; Jerome Robbins as a choreographer; the ballet Fancy free; the American style of dancing; more on Fancy free; his relationship with his fans; preparing for performance; dancers and acting; his feelings about having retired from performing; his luck in having had good partners; Bentley Stone as a teacher; differences between teachers in Chicago and New York City; dancing as a guest artist; factors in his decision to retire; his current lack of a formal relationship with American Ballet Theatre or much contact with dancers he knew there; teaching dance at the University of Indiana at Bloomington [ends abruptly but continues directly on disc 2].
• Disc 2 (ca. 38 min.). John Kriza continues to speak to Joan Kramer about the students at University of Indiana at Bloomington; more on his student days and his career; reasons he never wanted his own company; more on teaching dance and the students; performing with Ballet Theatre in London, in 1946 including the critical reception; the power of critics; the effect the dancers from the [former] U.S.S.R. who joined American Ballet Theatre had on the company; American Ballet Theatre's style; his thoughts on Rudolf Nureyev; Margot Fonteyn; dancers' bodies; his current interests and activities; dance on television; the reliance on guest artists at American Ballet Theatre.

Alternative Title

• Dance Oral History Project
• Dance Audio Archive

Subjects

• Fancy free (Choreographic work : Robbins)
• Audiotapes > Kriza, J
• American Ballet Theatre
• Stone, Bentley
• Kriza, John

Note

• Interview with John Kriza conducted by Joan Kramer at the Library and Museum for the Performing Arts [now the New York Public Library for the Performing Arts] at Lincoln Center, in New York City on Jan. 9, 1975, as part of the Library's Oral history project.
• Sound quality is good overall.

Funding (note)

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

System Details (note)

• Transferred from 1 sound reel (ca. 76 min.; 5 in.; 3 1 7/8 in. per sec.; polyester; 1 channel; half-track; originally recorded in 1975) to wav file and compact disc formats in 2012.

Call Number

*MGZTL 4-227

OCLC

77956907

Author

Kriza, John. Interviewee

Title

Interview with John Kriza [sound recording].

Imprint

1975.

Funding

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

System Details

Transferred from 1 sound reel (ca. 76 min.; 5 in.; 3 1 7/8 in. per sec.; polyester; 1 channel; half-track; originally recorded in 1975) to wav file and compact disc formats in 2012.

Local Note

For transcript of audio recording, see: *MGZMT 5-227.

Former call number: *MGZT 5-227

Archive original: *MGZTO 5-227

Added Author

Kramer, Joan. Interviewer

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-227