TitleInterview with Patricia Bowman, part 2 of 3
NamesBowman, Patricia (Interviewee)Veljkovic, Morag (Interviewer)
CollectionDance Audio Archive
Dates / OriginDate Created: 1978-11 - 1978-12
Library locationsJerome Robbins Dance DivisionShelf locator: *MGZTO 7-522
TopicsMordkin, Mikhail, 1881-1944Fokine, Michel, 1880-1942Chase, Lucia, 1897-1986Bowman, PatriciaLegat, Nikolaĭ Gustavovich, 1869-1937Mordkin Ballet CompanyAmerican Ballet TheatreVoices of spring (Choreographic work : Mordkin)Goldfish (Choreographic work : Mordkin)Dance in motion pictures, television, etc
GenresOral historiesInterviews
NotesContent: Title supplied by cataloger.Venue: Recorded by Morag Veljkovic November and December, 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: 6 audiotape reels (approximately 3 hr., 19 min.) : polyester; quarter-track; 7.5 ips; 7 in.Sound quality is good overall. Streaming audio files 2 and 3 are marred in part by "tape hiss."
DescriptionInterview with Patricia Bowman conducted by Morag Veljkovic for the oral history project of the Allied Arts Council, in Las Vegas, Nevada, in November and December, 1978, Part 2. Part 1 (November 1978) and Part 3 (January 1979) are cataloged separately.
Streaming audio file 1 (approximately 24 minutes). Patricia Bowman speaks with Morag Veljkovic about dancing a cakewalk with Leonide Massine and reads aloud from a review in Dance Magazine of their performance; an early television performance including the poor lighting and other difficult conditions; (briefly) the Ziegfield Follies including the beauty of the performers; Michel Fokine including her commissioning of ballets from him; an anecdote about Fokine and her mother; her engagements after she left the Ziegfield Follies including the musical Calling all stars; her personal life [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 2].
Streaming audio file 2 (approximately 42 minutes). Patricia Bowman speaks with Morag Veljkovic about dancing with Michel Fokine's ballet company at the Jones Beach stadium; (briefly) Leon Fokine; seeing, for the first time, the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo; the lack of individuality in ballet dancers today; her experience dancing in a revue titled O-Kay for sound at the London Palladium; appearing in the film version of O-Kay for sound, with Hugh Laing as her partner; performing in benefit performances, in England in 1936; the many star performers including Marlene Dietrich; several anecdotes relating to the abdication of King Edward VIII [ends abruptly but continues on streaming audio file 3].
Streaming audio file 3 (approximately 42 minutes). Patricia Bowman speaks with Morag Veljkovic about studying with Nicholas Legat in London; her discussions with René Blum about the possibility of joining his company; returning to New York in 1937 and dancing in nightclubs and shows; her passage on the Normandy; an anecdote about her mother and a costume; her opening night performance at the nightclub The Versailles, including the review in Variety magazine; an anecdote about the preceding act, a comedian who peeled potatoes; the value to her as a performer of her experience at The Versailles; her closing night [ends abruptly, but continues on streaming audio file 4].
Streaming audio file 4 (approximately 43 minutes). Patricia Bowman speaks with Morag Veljkovic about her program at The Versailles; her acting roles, in the operetta The pink lady and in On your toes; her frequent partner Rudolph Kroller; other memorable partners including Leonide Massine, Anton Dolin, and Erik Bruhn; performing in the musical Virginia at the Center Theatre; the ballet showcase at the Center Theatre; the circumstances of her joining the Mordkin Ballet Company in 1938 including an anecdote about Richard Pleasant and her mother; Lucia Chase as a dancer; her initial impressions of Michael [Mikhail] Mordkin; her reasons for joining the company at this point in her career; typical ballet careers today compared with her career path.
Streaming audio file 5 (approximately 32 minutes). Patricia Bowman speaks with Morag Veljkovic about her time with the Mordkin Ballet Company including rehearsals at Lucia Chase's Narragansett (Rhode Island) house; Mikhail Mordkin and his eccentricities; touring with the company including an anecdote about Mordkin and Lucia Chase in La fille mal gardée ; Bowman's roles; the company's versions of Swan lake and Giselle; Mordkin's ballet Voices of spring; performing this ballet with Mordkin; Mordkin's ballet The goldfish including Lucia Chase in the role of the fisherman's wife; the beginnings of Ballet Theatre [now American Ballet Theatre] with performances in New York in theaters rented by Chase [ends abruptly but continues on streaming file 6].
Streaming audio file 6 (approximately 16 minutes). [Music]. Patricia Bowman speaks with Morag Veljkovic about Lucia Chase, the end of the Mordkin Ballet Company and the beginnings of Ballet Theatre; some of the dancers in the Mordkin Ballet Company including Leon Varkas, Dimitri Romanoff, Nina Stroganova, Karen Conrad, and Vladimir Dokoudovsky; reviews and critics.
Type of ResourceSound recording
LanguagesEnglish
IdentifiersRLIN/OCLC: 999819778NYPL catalog ID (B-number): b21311332Universal Unique Identifier (UUID): 1b5d14d0-c7ff-0135-deed-5721458ceccc
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.
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