Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Frederic Franklin. May 17, 2000 [sound recording].

Author

Franklin, Frederic, 1914-2013.

Publication

2000.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

• Moseley, Monica.
• Aloff, Mindy, 1947-
• George Balanchine Foundation.

Description

2 sound cassettes (ca. 163 min.) +eedited transcript (48 leaves)

Summary

• Cassette 14, side A (ca. 38 min.). The recording includes Frederic Franklin's comments on photographs and drawings of ballets shown to him at the interview. Franklin speaks about Alexandra Fedorova's ballet The nutcracker [after Lev Ivanov, first performed in the U.S. at the Fifty-first St. Theatre in New York City], including the choreography; performance anecdotes; the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo's box office-oriented program of The nutcracker, Swan lake, and Schéhérazade; Franklin's staging of The nutcraker in Washington, D.C., with Alexandra Danilova's assistance; staging the ballet in 1974 in Cincinnati; the difficulties of dealing with three casts of children; the relationship of the Candy cane dance in George Balanchine's The nutcracker to the Hoop dance in Balanchine's ballet Night shadow; the English custom of using a ballet's French title; the actress Elsa Lanchester's performance in [Nikolai] Sergeeev's production of The nutcracker for Sadler's Wells Ballet; Franklin's trip to the U.S.S.R. in the 1960s; Danilova's dislike of Galina Ulanova; the financial potential of The nutcracker; the genius of Balanchine's production of The nutcracker.
• Cassette 14, side B (ca. 38 min.). Franklin speaks about Danilova's ballet Paquita [after Marius Petipa; premiered in New York City in 1949]; John Martin's review of Danilova's solo; the costumes by [Antonio] Castillo; comments on photographs of the ballet, including a production by the Washington National Ballet [now the Washington Ballet]; various stagings of the ballet in the U.S.; the choregraphy; Anton Dolin's ballet Pas de deux for four; circumstances of the creation of the original version by Keith Lester for the Markova-Dolin Company; the cast [as performed by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo?]; tells an anecdote about Anna Pavlova, Felia Doubrovska, and the ballet Giselle; more on Pas de deux for four, including Dolin's complete rechoreographing of the ballet, at Jacob's Pillow; Alicia Markova's initial reluctance to dance in the ballet; Markova as a dancer; Dolin's staging; Dolin's failure to credit Lester for the idea of the ballet; Lester as a dancer; tells anecdotes regarding other productions of the ballet, including the rivalry among the ballerinas in a production at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City; the performance by Franklin and other male dancers of the female roles at a gala with the Washington National Ballet. [Ends abruptly.]
• Cassette 15, side A (ca. 38 min.). Franklin continues speaking about the performance of Pas de deux for four in Washington, D.C. , including the audience's and Dolin's reactions; comments on photographs of the ballet; the ballet Petrouchka [the version choreographed by Michel Fokine for René Blum's Ballets de Monte Carlo]; its acquisition by the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; the cast, including Franklin [as the Moor] and Alexandra Danilova [as the Ballerina]; rehearsal and performance anecdotes, including with respect to a performance in Florence conducted by Igor Stravinsky; difficulty of the role [of the Moor]; Arthur Mitchell's surprise that Franklin had performed the role of the Moor; comments on drawings of Alexandre Benois' designs for the ballet; compares Massine's performance as Petrouchka and that of Léon Woizikowsky; more performance anecdotes; Tatiana Chamié in the role of the Tambourine Lady; comments further on drawings of designs for the ballet; Franklin's staging of the ballet in Tulsa, Okla.; begins telling an ancecdote about Irina Baranova's reaction to a performance of Petrouchka she saw in Russia. [Ends abruptly.]
• Cassette 15, side B (ca. 15 min.). Franklin continues with the anecdote about Baranova; performances he has seen by Russian companies of Fokine's ballets such as Petrouchka, Les sylphides, and Firebird; working with Russian dancers in the U.S.

Series Statement

Frederic Franklin Oral History Project

Alternative Title

Dance Oral History Project.

Subjects

• Franklin, Frederic, 1914-2013
• Nutcracker (Choreographic work)
• Lester, Keith, 1904-1993
• Dolin, Anton, 1904-1983
• Pas de deux for four (Choreographic work : Dolin)
• Massine, Leonide, 1896-1979
• Audiotapes > Franklin, F
• Balanchine, George
• Markova, Alicia, Dame, 1910-2004
• Paquita (Choreographic work : Danilova, A after Petipa, M)
• Nutcracker (Choreographic work : Fedorova-Fokine after Ivanov)
• Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo
• Petrouchka (Choreographic work : after Fokin)
• Nutcracker (Choreographic work : Balanchine after Ivanov)

Note

• Interview with Frederic Franklin conducted by Monica Moseley and Mindy Aloff at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City on May 17, 2000. This interview was recorded for the Frederic Franklin Oral History Project; the Project is a collaboration between the George Balanchine Foundation and The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.
• For transcript see: *MGZMT 3-2253 no. 14-15.
• The recording is marred by occasional extraneous noise.
• The transcripts were prepared by the George Balanchine Foundation. The transcripts are edited versions of the recordings and may include material such as follow-up interviews, in person and by telephone, and explanatory notes, which are not included in the recording.

Access (note)

• Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Call Number

*MGZTC 3-2253 nos. 14-15

OCLC

NYPY04-R73

Author

Franklin, Frederic, 1914-2013. Interviewee

Title

Interview with Frederic Franklin. May 17, 2000 [sound recording].

Imprint

2000.

Series

Frederic Franklin Oral History Project

Local Note

Archive original: *MGZTCO 3-2253 nos. 14-15

Dubbing master: *MGZTD 4-2253 nos. 14-15

Archival transcript: *MGZMTO 3-2253 no. 14-15

Restricted Access

Transcripts may not be photographed or reproduced without permission.

Connect to:

Request Access to Special Collections (Dance Division) material

Local Subject

Audiotapes -- Franklin, F.

Added Author

Moseley, Monica. Interviewer

Aloff, Mindy, 1947- Interviewer

George Balanchine Foundation.

Research Call Number

*MGZTC 3-2253 nos. 14-15 sound cassettes

*MGZMT 3-2253 no. 14-15 transcript

*MGZTC 3-2253 nos. 14-15