TitleInterview with Patricia Bowman, part 1 of 3
NamesBowman, Patricia (Interviewee)Veljkovic, Morag (Interviewer)
CollectionDance Audio Archive
Dates / OriginDate Created: 1978-11
Library locationsJerome Robbins Dance DivisionShelf locator: *MGZTO 7-522
TopicsFokine, Michel, 1880-1942Massine, Leonide, 1896-1979Bowman, PatriciaRoxy Theatre (New York, N.Y.)Radio City Music Hall (New York, N.Y.)Persian angel (Choreographic work : Fokin)Tennis (Choreographic work : Fokin)Ziegfeld folliesWorld War, 1939-1945 -- Dance and the war
GenresOral historiesInterviews
NotesCitation/reference: For transcript of interview see *MGZMT 5-522.Content: Title supplied by cataloger.Venue: Recorded by Morag Veljkovic November, 1978 Las Vegas (Nev.)Funding: The conservation 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.
Physical DescriptionAudiotape reelExtent: 4 audiotape reels (approximately 2 hr.) : polyester; quarter-track; 7.5 ips; 7 in.Sound quality is good overall.
DescriptionInterview with Patricia Bowman conducted by Morag Veljkovic for the oral history project of the Allied Arts Council, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November, 1978, Part 1. Part 2 (November-December, 1978) and Part 3 (January 1979) are cataloged separately.
Streaming audio file 1 (approximately 41 minutes). [Music.] Morag Veljkovic introduces Patricia Bowman; Bowman speaks about her early dance training and performances; moving to New York with her mother and appearing in George White's Scandals in 1925; the state of ballet in the United States at the time; studying with Michel Fokine including her audition; some of the other performers in Scandals; Nicholas Daks; performing at the Roxy Theatre; her ballroom dance partnership with Tony de Marco including an anecdote about her ballet solo at the Palace Theatre; working with Leonide Massine as a choreographer and a dancer at the Roxy Theatre [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 2].
Streaming audio file 2 (approximately 26 minutes). Patricia Bowman speaks with Morag Veljkovic about dancing with Leonide Massine at the Roxy Theatre, including how publications like Variety described such performances at the time; some of her roles including a scenario she performed with Agnes de Mille; an anecdote about Roxy [Samuel L. Rothafel]; some observations and anecdotes about her red hair; her salary at the Roxy Theatre; the price of her classes with Michel Fokine; Fokine's Les sylphides including how dancers have changed the choreography to make it easier; dancing with Erik Bruhn in Les sylphides at a Ballet Theatre [now American Ballet Theatre] gala performance.
Streaming audio file 3 (approximately 37 minutes). Morag Veljkovic speaks about Patricia Bowman's emergence as a star ballerina at the Roxy Theatre; Patricia Bowman speaks about her and Leonide Massine's guest engagements at the Palace Theatre and in Philadelphia; her singing on radio programs for the Roxy; the public's lack of understanding of the conventions of male ballet dancers; Massine as a person; Edgar Degas and his depiction of ballerinas from the Paris Opéra Ballet [Opéra de Paris ballet]; her grandmother's initial opposition to her appearing on the stage; Fokine's visit to the Roxy Theatre to see Massine; Fokine's creation of the works The Persian angel and Tennis, for Bowman; learning The dying swan; Anna Pavlova; Fokine's choreographic process; touring; studying ballet while on vacation in Europe; her experience taking class with Lubov Egorova and at the Mary Wigman school; meeting her future husband, Abbott Kaye [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 4].
Streaming audio file 4 (approximately 13 minutes). Patricia Bowman speaks with Morag Veljkovic about the opening of Radio City Music Hall; some of the performers who appeared at the opening including Martha Graham, Harald Kreutzberg, and Ray Bolger; the enormous size of the Radio City Music Hall stage; Vincente Minnelli; her reasons for joining the Ziegfield Follies; Fanny Brice as compared to Barbra Streisand in Funny girl [ends abruptly].
Type of ResourceSound recording
LanguagesEnglish
IdentifiersRLIN/OCLC: 184951056NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b12118357Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 26a35690-c7ff-0135-e95a-37de18717d35
Rights StatementThe 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
-
-
-
-
