WEBVTT 1 00:00:14.340 --> 00:00:16.760 Tape number two, this is 2 April, 87. 2 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:22.400 We are in Pittsburgh and this is zero view on both channels one and two at the end of 3 00:00:22.400 --> 00:00:22.840 one minute. 4 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:28.100 Channel one has two microphones mixed with the Osmic 8 and then the Lavalier mic separate 5 00:01:00.620 --> 00:01:05.680 Okay, what was it like for the dancers in your company to be working with Ruth? 6 00:01:05.780 --> 00:01:06.560 Was she tough? 7 00:01:06.800 --> 00:01:07.620 Did they like her? 8 00:01:07.660 --> 00:01:08.580 Did they hate her? 9 00:01:09.660 --> 00:01:15.480 The dancers to the, excuse me, start again. 10 00:01:17.400 --> 00:01:24.740 The dancers in the company was very impressed knowing that Ruth Page, the great Ruth Page 11 00:01:24.740 --> 00:01:35.100 here and this was actually 50% of the ensemble was yet almost students, half students have 12 00:01:35.100 --> 00:01:35.460 dances. 13 00:01:35.600 --> 00:01:42.480 It was not yet a fully professional company and only the soloists was high caliber but 14 00:01:42.480 --> 00:01:54.120 basically the company was very young and they were impressed with very much having Ruth 15 00:01:54.120 --> 00:02:00.220 here and her approach and actually Ruth was tough because she won't, what she won't, she 16 00:02:00.220 --> 00:02:00.960 won't like that. 17 00:02:01.220 --> 00:02:09.540 It was no different way but she was very sweet on the way how she was talking with them, 18 00:02:09.760 --> 00:02:15.320 sort of motherly, sort of very friendly. 19 00:02:16.280 --> 00:02:22.400 They established probably a liking to her very fast. 20 00:02:23.040 --> 00:02:28.780 So it was not just my sympathy, I think the dancers shared with me the same feeling. 21 00:02:29.380 --> 00:02:35.780 They liked to work with her and they liked to work also with Kenneth because Kenneth 22 00:02:35.780 --> 00:02:37.680 knew very well all the movements. 23 00:02:37.680 --> 00:02:45.120 So that was a very pleasant collaboration. 24 00:02:46.960 --> 00:02:51.600 Are there any particular stories, funny incidents or anything that ever happened that stand 25 00:02:51.600 --> 00:02:54.100 out in your mind regarding your work with Ruth? 26 00:02:58.800 --> 00:03:01.080 There was several things. 27 00:03:01.080 --> 00:03:13.560 I was learning, actually I didn't mention Frankie and Johnny and also Mary Vido where 28 00:03:13.560 --> 00:03:15.480 she wanted to do Popov. 29 00:03:16.220 --> 00:03:19.420 She said, well darling you will do that, you will do Popov. 30 00:03:19.520 --> 00:03:20.780 I said okay I will do Popov. 31 00:03:20.900 --> 00:03:28.100 I didn't know actually the roles so much on the film and I didn't know who is Popov and 32 00:03:28.100 --> 00:03:31.060 who is in the film actually. 33 00:03:31.480 --> 00:03:34.840 I guess I mixed it up. 34 00:03:35.240 --> 00:03:44.360 So I started to work and she was sort of well, you know, approach with her. 35 00:03:44.540 --> 00:03:51.800 For a while I already didn't dance and it was again like going back to movement and 36 00:03:51.800 --> 00:03:52.120 all that. 37 00:03:52.120 --> 00:03:59.600 And I liked to work because I felt with her to work like with Miacin on those things. 38 00:03:59.820 --> 00:04:09.220 It was a subject, it was a story, it was something that I could relate to a role because I was 39 00:04:09.220 --> 00:04:17.300 basically in Europe also often like character premiere by Miacin. 40 00:04:17.300 --> 00:04:27.300 I was doing lots of character work roles and it was in my field so it was pretty pleasant 41 00:04:27.300 --> 00:04:28.480 for me to do. 42 00:04:30.280 --> 00:04:33.220 Do you still, when was the last time? 43 00:04:33.680 --> 00:04:34.920 That I danced in her ballet. 44 00:04:35.000 --> 00:04:39.540 No, that Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre did a page ballet. 45 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:45.260 Mary Vido was repeated several times. 46 00:04:46.160 --> 00:04:51.460 Actually we thought that Mary Vido would be filmed with Pittsburgh Ballet and after they 47 00:04:51.460 --> 00:04:58.020 didn't work out, they used the conductor Octavio De Rosa, I think, did the version in 48 00:04:58.020 --> 00:04:58.540 Chicago. 49 00:05:00.660 --> 00:05:03.300 How many years has it been since you've done a page ballet? 50 00:05:04.760 --> 00:05:13.620 I did also when I quit Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre and I formed here the American Dance Ensemble. 51 00:05:14.320 --> 00:05:22.160 We brought in Carmina Burana, we repeated it two times, Kenneth staged it and Ruth came 52 00:05:22.160 --> 00:05:23.460 just to supervise. 53 00:05:24.220 --> 00:05:24.840 So recently. 54 00:05:25.160 --> 00:05:30.420 It was recently, we talked about a couple of years ago, about three or four years ago 55 00:05:30.420 --> 00:05:31.800 was the last time. 56 00:05:31.980 --> 00:05:43.600 We even planned most recently but you see also we have here the faculty so with the 57 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:55.420 American Dance Ensemble, we did also Bolero here revived and that was with the American 58 00:05:55.420 --> 00:06:00.960 Dance Ensemble, Bolero and Romeo also with him revived. 59 00:06:01.200 --> 00:06:05.040 Romeo, Bolero and Carmina Burana. 60 00:06:05.540 --> 00:06:09.660 With Pittsburgh Ballet was the last I think Frank and Johnny and Mary Vido. 61 00:06:09.660 --> 00:06:14.740 Mary Vido was the last, it was about four years ago, three or four years ago. 62 00:06:15.000 --> 00:06:20.680 In your opinion, what is it about page ballets that makes them work with the audience? 63 00:06:21.900 --> 00:06:27.240 The simplicity, the clear picture that's been. 64 00:06:27.540 --> 00:06:30.780 I'm sorry, could you start and say what makes her ballets work? 65 00:06:33.600 --> 00:06:36.560 Ruth's ballets makes the... 66 00:06:36.560 --> 00:06:37.380 Start again. 67 00:06:39.860 --> 00:06:45.840 The ballets of Ruth Page are very clear. 68 00:06:47.000 --> 00:06:49.640 They have most of them a story. 69 00:06:50.120 --> 00:06:56.340 It makes really work in the eyes of the public because they can relate to it. 70 00:06:56.340 --> 00:07:06.260 They have anything that they understand like Carmen or Mary Vido and all the story ballets 71 00:07:07.140 --> 00:07:13.880 be that short version of opera and even if they didn't know the opera but they knew the 72 00:07:13.880 --> 00:07:21.720 story or Romeo even if it is not the total story but it was the fragments of the story 73 00:07:21.720 --> 00:07:25.260 who really presented them the whole story in short 20 minutes. 74 00:07:25.260 --> 00:07:34.540 So all that made the public really could relate to those ballets and didn't need to be a sophisticated 75 00:07:35.100 --> 00:07:42.400 dance audience or anybody, a sophisticated or not sophisticated, could relate to those 76 00:07:42.400 --> 00:07:43.800 ballets and could enjoy. 77 00:07:44.460 --> 00:07:47.820 It was a nice, they put together nice costumes. 78 00:07:47.900 --> 00:07:55.140 She always choose very good costumes and very good designers like Andre Delpho was one of 79 00:07:55.260 --> 00:08:03.880 the designers before he became her husband but I met her, met him here when he came to 80 00:08:03.880 --> 00:08:09.240 design the Alice in Wonderland and then Carmina Cattulli he designed here in Pittsburgh. 81 00:08:10.040 --> 00:08:17.340 So it seems that even Pittsburgh has a premier of Ruth Page ballet that's Alice in Wonderland 82 00:08:17.340 --> 00:08:25.240 and Carmina Cattulli was premiered here in Pittsburgh and I don't know later on you will 83 00:08:25.260 --> 00:08:28.840 know what companies she did in other companies also. 84 00:08:29.680 --> 00:08:37.820 Where would, last question, where would you place Ruth Page in the rank of choreographers? 85 00:08:38.980 --> 00:08:51.380 She has a unique, I would place Ruth Page in one of the leading choreographers of USA 86 00:08:52.140 --> 00:08:57.000 because she has a specific style. 87 00:08:57.760 --> 00:09:00.120 She's the Miassen of America. 88 00:09:00.660 --> 00:09:09.880 Possibly that USA is not too taken by the works of Miassen but they was taken by the 89 00:09:09.880 --> 00:09:19.440 work of Ruth Page who actually was presenting that what Miassen presented for Europe and 90 00:09:19.960 --> 00:09:28.300 she was certainly a great era of the American dance. 91 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:39.600 It was not the pure American modern Alan Mardagraham and it was not the symphonic classical 92 00:09:39.600 --> 00:09:42.680 academic style of Balanchine. 93 00:09:42.680 --> 00:09:53.340 So it was a unique style, a unique period of the American ballet what she did. 94 00:09:54.040 --> 00:10:03.560 And it seems that she was on the right track because today the famous young choreographers 95 00:10:03.560 --> 00:10:09.540 who became famous was working on the same principles to put together modern and classical 96 00:10:09.540 --> 00:10:16.100 technique and create a style like Eurykielion or any more. 97 00:10:16.340 --> 00:10:24.220 I would say now 80% of the contemporary choreographers work on a joint technique. 98 00:10:24.420 --> 00:10:28.000 It's not purely classical, not purely modern. 99 00:10:28.720 --> 00:10:34.960 I would say modern is a little bit losing ground and the classical losing ground but 100 00:10:34.960 --> 00:10:40.060 it's not this joint style I think gaining. 101 00:10:54.080 --> 00:10:59.080 Ruth Page also influenced very much Pittsburgh Ballet. 102 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:14.700 Pittsburgh Ballet didn't have a large budget, didn't have any repertory and we was sort 103 00:11:14.700 --> 00:11:22.960 of almost required to have full length ballets so we started with Nutcracker like everybody 104 00:11:22.960 --> 00:11:29.520 starts and after Nutcracker we didn't know really on what direction to go. 105 00:11:29.880 --> 00:11:45.800 I planned to bring in also Roland Petit and Béjar but Béjar's tour in USA in that period 106 00:11:45.800 --> 00:11:52.940 of time was not very successful so I got resisting opinions from the American audience. 107 00:11:52.960 --> 00:11:56.940 They said no Béjar is not for us and all that. 108 00:11:57.800 --> 00:12:08.380 And Ruth was the most approachable for us plus we had also three dancers from her company 109 00:12:08.380 --> 00:12:15.680 so that was also giving that influence of Chicago Ballet on a Pittsburgh Ballet. 110 00:12:16.090 --> 00:12:25.090 And I believe that it continued even later when I left the company because Patrick Franz 111 00:12:25.090 --> 00:12:34.830 also used the same ballets and same repertory what was done in the time when I was there. 112 00:12:37.050 --> 00:12:46.070 So her work influenced certainly on Pittsburgh Ballet until the arrival of Patrick Shevald 113 00:12:46.090 --> 00:12:54.490 where naturally the Balanchine style started to dominate the repertory. 114 00:12:54.710 --> 00:13:06.530 Because in my time I was sort of possibly a strange situation Pittsburgh had regularly 115 00:13:06.530 --> 00:13:12.850 was presented the Pennsylvania Ballet and Pennsylvania Ballet had the Balanchine repertory 116 00:13:12.850 --> 00:13:22.570 and as Barbara Weisberger then the director of Pennsylvania Ballet helped me to lend dancers 117 00:13:22.570 --> 00:13:32.030 also and some help she sort of hinted me don't do the Balanchine repertory. 118 00:13:32.350 --> 00:13:38.910 So really we had only in that time but this was really was not even Balanchine it just 119 00:13:38.910 --> 00:13:53.270 revised the short variation piece and because I sort of committed myself to Barbara Weisberger 120 00:13:53.270 --> 00:14:00.730 that I will do other line I will do the Myasin line and I will do not New York City Ballet 121 00:14:00.730 --> 00:14:05.990 style I will do American Ballet Theater style therefore we called Pittsburgh Ballet Theater 122 00:14:05.990 --> 00:14:15.410 what himself the name says and that was the most appropriate I think route was the most 123 00:14:15.410 --> 00:14:24.330 appropriate for this company. Beside it I also did some of my ballets and the full length 124 00:14:24.330 --> 00:14:31.450 ballets that we brought in people like Freddie Franklin who staged Giselle and other full 125 00:14:31.450 --> 00:14:37.990 length ballets but we felt that Pittsburgh needed the full length ballets and that what 126 00:14:37.990 --> 00:14:46.230 they bought when we had the non full length ballets except with the evenings when it was 127 00:14:46.230 --> 00:14:50.570 routes ballets it was not selling very much between the full length and routes ballets 128 00:14:50.570 --> 00:14:59.910 what was selling so sometimes we have to have to we couldn't present just as this is our 129 00:14:59.910 --> 00:15:06.690 idea and we will present that we had to also go what the public was buying and route's 130 00:15:06.690 --> 00:15:13.510 ballets are ballets what the public likes at least in that time I don't know now because 131 00:15:13.510 --> 00:15:19.850 the company's her company's not existing her ballets are revived in different companies 132 00:15:19.850 --> 00:15:28.370 but it still seems that lots of cities have very successful revival of her ballets. 133 00:15:30.050 --> 00:15:35.010 Okay is there anything that I haven't asked you that you'd like to talk about? I think 134 00:15:35.010 --> 00:15:43.790 you covered everything. Thank you. We need about 30 seconds of silence. Everybody just 135 00:15:43.790 --> 00:15:47.730 has to sit quietly. This will be the room tone in the office of the valley. 136 00:16:43.210 --> 00:16:53.930 This will be track one will be a lower level and track two will be at speech level. We're 137 00:16:53.930 --> 00:16:58.050 going to record the music that happened in the background from the studio so that you 138 00:16:58.050 --> 00:17:03.190 might be able to mix it under if you need a place to sweep in or come out with but it 139 00:17:03.190 --> 00:17:10.230 will be from the studio perspective the levels are set at the right channel channel two is 140 00:17:10.230 --> 00:17:14.930 set at voice level so I won't change that background and the other one is set at lower 141 00:17:14.930 --> 00:17:17.750 level to fudge. 142 00:17:28.050 --> 00:17:28.050 143 00:18:14.990 --> 00:18:16.390 Okay. 144 00:18:56.190 --> 00:18:57.590 Okay. 145 00:19:15.490 --> 00:19:16.890 Okay. 146 00:19:45.390 --> 00:19:46.790 Okay. 147 00:20:22.050 --> 00:20:23.450 Okay. 148 00:20:28.050 --> 00:20:28.050 149 00:21:09.470 --> 00:21:10.870 Okay.