Interview with Marie Rambert, 1980-07

More Details Cite This Item

View this item elsewhere:

Title
Interview with Marie Rambert, 1980-07
Names
Merce Cunningham Dance Company (Associated name)
Rambert, Marie (Interviewee)
Vaughan, David, 1924- (Interviewer)
Molière, 1622-1673 (Author in quotations or text extracts)
Collection

Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation Collection. Audio materials

Dates / Origin
Date Created: 1980-07 (Questionable)
Library locations
Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound
Shelf locator: *LTC-A 1186
Topics
Ashton, Frederick, Sir, 1904-1988
Baryshnikov, Mikhail, 1948-
Cunningham, Merce
Rambert, Marie
Petipa, Marius, 1818-1910
Wyspiański, Stanisław, 1869-1907. Wesele. English
Merce Cunningham Dance Company
Tragedy of fashion; or Scarlet scissors (Choreographic work : Ashton)
Ballet -- History -- 20th century
Molière, 1622-1673. Works. Selections
Genres
Interviews
Notes
Content: David Vaughan interviews Marie Rambert, probably in London, England, in July, 1980; correlating to Merce Cunningham Dance Company performances at the Sadler's Wells Theatre.
Content: Title, date and location provided by cataloger based on audition and handwritten note on original cassette.
Content: Handwritten note on original cassette: "Side 1: Kaleidoscope 1 July 1980 ; MC/JC".
Numbering: Donor's inventory number: C350.
Venue: Recorded in, London, England, [probably 1980 July?].
Acquisition: Gift; Merce Cunningham Dance Foundation, 2011-2012.
Physical Description
Audiocassette
Extent: 1 audiocassette (86 minutes) : analog
Sound quality is fair; the interviewee speaks at a distance from the microphone and is inaudible at times.
Description
Side 2: Begins abruptly; David Vaughan speaks with Marie Rambert about Marius Petipa and his ballets; De Valois speaks about Petipa's choreography and dance as a theatrical art, dependent on the dancers' interpretations; she recites a verse from Molière in French (with partial English translations), ca. 7:00-12:04; Rambert speaks about learning this verse as well as other poetry; Vaughan speaks briefly about being in a performance of the play Wesele, "The Wedding" (1901), by Stanisław Wyspiański; Vaughan speaks about his role as archivist for the Merce Cunningham Dance Company; Rambert speaks about the last time she visited New York and the first time she saw works by Merce Cunningham; they speak about the success of Cunningham's recent performances at Sadler's Wells Theatre; Vaughan speaks about how Cunningham uses videotaping to document his choreographic process; Rambert briefly mentions Frederick Ashton; Rambert speaks about teaching her students excerpts of Petipa's choreography, including from Sleeping beauty; Rambert speaks about encouraging Ashton, one of her pupils, to learn Petipa's choreography; she tells an anecdote about Ashton's early choreography and his request for music to accompany it [partially inaudible]; she speaks about Ashton's Tragedy of fashion; or Scarlet scissors, choreography for a 1926 revue staged by Nigel Playfair and her husband, Ashley Dukes; they continue to speak about Ashton's Tragedy of fashion, including Eugene Goossens's accompaniment music, Kaleidoscope; Rambert speaks about Mikhail Baryshnikov's performance they saw the previous night; Vaughan speaks about Baryshnikov in the ballet Spectre de la rose as compared to Rudolf Nureyev's version of the same role; [ca. 35:37-36:43, they look at photographs together]; they continue to speak about Baryshnikov including his dancing with the New York City Ballet and his stipulation that Ashton create a ballet for him before joining the Royal Ballet; Rambert speaks about recent "English ballet" productions that she attended; Rambert speaks about how Cunningham's works are like paintings and asks Vaughan about his choreographic process; Vaughan speaks about how Cunningham choreographs independently from the music and describes a recent performance of Cunningham's Sounddance (1975); Vaughan lists the publications he writes for and mentions that he's in the research phase to write a book on Cunningham.
Type of Resource
Sound recording
Languages
English
French
Identifiers
RLIN/OCLC: 913835774
NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b20731612
Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 263b2760-b8ec-0133-4f87-60f81dd2b63c
Rights Statement
This item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. 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. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).

Item timeline of events

  • 1980: Created
  • 2024: Found by you!
  • 2025

MLA Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. "Interview with Marie Rambert, 1980-07" The New York Public Library Digital Collections. 1980. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2a42d2f0-b8ec-0133-577f-60f81dd2b63c

Chicago/Turabian Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. "Interview with Marie Rambert, 1980-07" New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed November 7, 2024. https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2a42d2f0-b8ec-0133-577f-60f81dd2b63c

APA Format

Rodgers and Hammerstein Archives of Recorded Sound, The New York Public Library. (1980). Interview with Marie Rambert, 1980-07 Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2a42d2f0-b8ec-0133-577f-60f81dd2b63c

Wikipedia Citation

<ref name=NYPL>{{cite web | url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/2a42d2f0-b8ec-0133-577f-60f81dd2b63c | title= (sound recording) Interview with Marie Rambert, 1980-07, (1980)|author=Digital Collections, The New York Public Library |accessdate=November 7, 2024 |publisher=The New York Public Library, Astor, Lenox, and Tilden Foundations}}</ref>

Interview with Marie Rambert, 1980-07