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Items Interview with David Blair

Interview with David Blair: staging a masterpiece

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Library division & collection with this item:

LIBRARY DIVISION
Jerome Robbins Dance Division

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COLLECTION
Dance Audio Archive

This Item

Interview with David Blair

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Title
Interview with David Blair: staging a masterpiece
Additional title: Invitation to dance (Radio program)
Names
Blair, David, 1932-1976 (Interviewee)
Terry, Walter (Interviewer)
Collection

Dance Audio Archive

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1966-10-16
Library locations
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Shelf locator: *MGZTO 7-72
Topics
Sergeev, Nikolaĭ Grigorʹevich, 1876-1951
Blair, David, 1932-1976
Royal Ballet
Sleeping beauty (Choreographic work : Blair after Petipa, M)
Swan lake (Choreographic work : Blair after Ivanov and Petipa, M)
Ballet -- Production and direction
Choreography -- Reconstructions
Genres
Interviews
Notes
Funding: The processing 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.
Content: Title supplied by cataloger.
Venue: Recorded for radio station WNYC, New York for its series Invitation to dance October 16, 1966 New York (N.Y.)
Physical Description
Audiotape reel
Extent: 1 audiotape reel (approximately 24 min.) : acetate, half-track, 7.5 ips; 7 in.
The sound quality is excellent.
Description
Interview with David Blair conducted by Walter Terry, as host. Broadcast October 16, 1966 by radio station WNYC, New York, on its series Invitation to dance. Streaming audio file (approximately 24 minutes). Walter Terry introduces David Blair, principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, who recently restaged a complete, four-act Swan lake for American Ballet Theatre. Blair speaks with Terry about traditional methods of preserving and reconstructing ballets; [Nikolaĭ Grigorʹevich] Sergeev's reconstruction of the Swan lake of [Marius] Petipa and [Lev] Ivanov for Ninette de Valois and the Sadler's Wells Ballet (now the Royal Ballet); the Russian approach to choreography when restaging the classic ballets; how Blair was able to preserve the choreography (as transmitted by Sergeev) in his new production of Swan lake; why he believes it is important to retain the choreography of the classic ballets; his close-to-photographic memory for steps; his staging of Sleeping beauty in Atlanta, Georgia, using Sergeev's notebooks, for a ballet company composed of dancers from all over the United States; the Swan lake he staged a year ago, in Atlanta; his desire to continue producing ballets and eventually to choreograph; the necessity of limiting his work as a restager in order to be able to continue dancing; the approach he would take to choreographing; Terry's closing remarks.
Type of Resource
Sound recording
Languages
English
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: 36193302
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12117260
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 25e8a850-797c-0136-39eb-085681e9d2b3
Rights Statement
The copyright and related rights status of this item has been reviewed by The New York Public Library, but we were unable to make a conclusive determination as to the copyright status of the item. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use.

Item timeline of events

  • 1932: Creator Born
  • 1966: Created
  • 1976: Creator Died
  • 2018: Digitized
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Interview with David Blair" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1966. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2d3b1fe0-3ba6-0134-ee5b-60f81dd2b63c

Chicago/Turabian Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. "Interview with David Blair" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed May 1, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2d3b1fe0-3ba6-0134-ee5b-60f81dd2b63c

APA Format

Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library. (1966). Interview with David Blair Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2d3b1fe0-3ba6-0134-ee5b-60f81dd2b63c

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2d3b1fe0-3ba6-0134-ee5b-60f81dd2b63c | title= (sound recording) Interview with David Blair, (1966)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=May 1, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Interview with David Blair