Research Catalog

Title

Interview with Martin Koenig. May 4, 2012.

Author

Koenig, Martin

Publication

2012

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Arnold, Joan, 1948-

Description

4 compact discs (approximately three hours and 12 minutes) : digital; 4 3/4 in.

Summary

• Disc 1, approximately 51 minutes. Marin Koenig speaks with Joan Arnold about his family background; his parents' experience as immigrants; his childhood and his first exposure to folk dance; his developing interest in folk dance while attending Brooklyn College; traveling after college and his impressions of Yugoslavia; his thoughts on the dissolution of that culture since the fall of the Berlin wall; teaching at Seward Park High school; traveling to Bulgaria; leaving his job as a high school teacher and becoming immersed in teaching dance.
• Disc 2, approximately 47 minutes. Martin Koenig speaks with Joan Arnold about beginning his in-depth study of the original Balkan folk dances through travel, field work and research; his strategies for financing the trips; receiving support from Margaret Mead and Alan Lomax; working with Malvene Dyer-Bennet and with Irmgard Bartenieff; his exploration of ways to refine his understanding of, and ability to describe, movement; how this exploration informed his teaching; his immersion in his travels and the realization of the precariousness of Balkan culture; his desire to document his observations.
• Disc 3, approximately 51 minutes. Martin Koenig speaks with Joan Arnold about his research on traditional dance forms in Eastern Europe, particularly in Bulgaria, in the post-World War II period; the impact of the creation of modern roads during this period and the resulting impact on the various populations; the spread of the cultural model of the Moiseyev Dance Company in the Eastern bloc countries; the variety of clothing and village buildings that he saw during the 1950s and 1960s in different countries in the region; the work of Raina Katzarova [Raĭna Ka︠t︡sarova] in recording the songs of Pomak villages in Bulgaria; the distinct seven zones in Bulgaria; Vergily Atanasov [Vergiliĭ Atanasov] and how he helped Koenig navigate the cultures and create an environment in which his work could succeed; his work with Ethel Raim and the sound recordings that were released of this work.
• Disc 4, approximately 43 minutes. Martin Koenig speaks with Joan Arnold about founding the Balkan Arts Center [later the Ethnic Folk Arts Center, and now the Center for Traditional Music and Dance] and continuing to work with Ethel Raim; his work in the late 1960s and early 1970s and then the broadening of the mission of the Balkan Arts Center to become the Ethnic Folk Arts center; the process and context of his work in later years; his intentions and obstacles; his departure from this work and the focus on his personal life; re-exploring his work by exploiting new technological media with the potential to make his original recordings and films more widely available; the technical challenges he has faced in digitizing the original recordings; his desire to write a book about his efforts to preserve authentic ethnic culture; reflections on the significance of his work.

Alternative Title

Dance Oral History Project.

Subjects

• Ka︠t︡sarova, Raĭna
• Dyer-Bennet, Malvene
• Atanasov, Vergiliĭ
• Lomax, Alan, 1915-2002
• Bartenieff, Irmgard
• Bulgaria > Social life and customs > 21st century
• Center for Traditional Music and Dance (New York, N.Y.)
• Mead, Margaret, 1901-1978
• Ethnic Folk Arts Center (U.S.)
• Folk dancing > Europe, Eastern
• Yugoslavia > Social life and customs > 20th century
• Folk dancing, Balkan
• Audiotapes > Koenig, M
• Yugoslavia > Social life and customs > 21st century
• Koenig, Martin
• Balkan Arts Center
• Bulgaria > Social life and customs > 20th century

Note

• Interview with Martin Koenig conducted by Joan Arnold on May 4, 2012 at The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts in New York City as part of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division's Oral History Project.
• As of June 2021, only the audio for this recording is available. The transcripts for this interview are undergoing processing and will be available in the near future.
• Title supplied by cataloger.
• Two transcripts have been created for this recording. One is standard verbatim with changes from or additions to the text indicated in brackets. This interview can be found under the call number: *MGZMT 3-2916. A second version of the transcript has been edited significantly by the oral author Martin Koenig; changes from and additions to the text are not indicated. This transcript can be found under the call number: *MGZMT 3-2916A.

Funding (note)

• This interview was made possible 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

*MGZMT 3-2916A

OCLC

869615741

Author

Koenig, Martin, interviewee.

Title

Interview with Martin Koenig. May 4, 2012.

Production

2012

Type of Content

spoken word

Type of Medium

audio

Type of Carrier

audio disc

Event

Recorded by Joan Arnold 2012, May 4 New York, New York.

Funding

This interview was made possible 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.

Added Author

Arnold, Joan, 1948- interviewer.

Research Call Number

*MGZTL 4-2916