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Film, Video Anna Sokolow and the Reimagined Roots of Anti-fascist Dance

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Title

  • Anna Sokolow and the Reimagined Roots of Anti-fascist Dance

Summary

  • Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble's artistic director Samantha Géracht introduced the story of restoring early activist dances of American choreographer Anna Sokolow in a program of performances, panel discussion and movement as demonstration. After the Library of Congress announced the extraordinary discovery of handwritten scores composed by Alex North for two of Sokolow's dances, Géracht reimagined the dances using archival evidence and the music. "Ballad in a Popular Style" is a wistful lyrical excursion into jazz first performed in 1936. "Slaughter of the Innocents" is Sokolow's 1937 lament for Basque women suffering under Nazi aerial bombing. Both were performed by members of the Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble to the original scores for the first time in 80 years, showing that the creative collaboration of Anna Sokolow (1910-2000) and Alex North (1910-1991) remains fresh, compelling and relevant for today's audiences. A panel discussion of the revival of the music and dance and the lives of North and Sokolow was followed by an audience question and answer session.

    Participants
    Samantha Géracht, artistic director, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
    James May, founding director, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
    Eleanor Bunker, associate artistic director, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
    Lauren Naslund, associate artistic director, Sokolow Theatre/Dance Ensemble
    Ilana Ruth Cohen, Erin Gottwald, Margherita Tisato, dancers
    Lakey Evans-Peña, associate director, Ailey School Horton Pedagogy
    Abby North, music rights and publishing professional, Unchained Melody Publishing LLC & North Music Group LLC
    Libby Smigel, Library of Congress Music Division

    Program
    [0:00] Introduction: Libby Smigel

    [8:27] "Slaughter of the Innocents," solo version
    Choreography: Samantha Géracht (after Anna Sokolow)
    Music: Alex North/Kevin Kaska Dancer: Margherita Tisato

    [15:29] Building the Choreography for "Slaughter of the Innocents"
    Samantha Géracht
    Erin Gottwald, dancer

    [24:42] Discovering the Scores and Working with Abby North to Record Them

    [30:44] "Slaughter of the Innocents," trio version
    Choreography: Samantha Géracht (after Anna Sokolow)
    Music: Alex North/Kevin Kaska
    Dancers: Ilana Ruth Cohen, Erin Gottwald, & Margherita Tisato

    [37:39] Introduction to Rebuilding "Ballad in a Popular Style": Samantha Géracht

    [42:48] "Ballad in a Popular Style"
    Choreography: Eleanor Bunker & Samantha Géracht (after Anna Sokolow)
    Music: Alex North/Kevin Kaska
    Dancer: Ilana Ruth Cohen

    [47:56] Panel Discussion

    Credits
    "Slaughter of the Innocents," solo and trio versions
    Choreography: Samantha Géracht, based upon Barbara Morgan's photographs of Anna Sokolow dancing her "Slaughter of the Innocents" (premiered 1937, retitled "Madrid" and revised in 1943)
    Music: Alex North (original score)
    Arrangement: Kevin Kaska, performed by the Los Angeles Chamber Artists under the direction of Andrew Schulman (2020); grateful acknowledgement to Dylan North
    Costume: Epperson, an interpretation of the original by Anna Sokolow and Rose Bank
    Dancers: Ilana Ruth Cohen, Erin Gottwald, Margherita Tisato

    "Ballad in a Popular Style"
    Choreography: Eleanor Bunker and Samantha Géracht, based upon Anna Sokolow's "As I Remember: Ballad in a Popular Style" (1982)
    Music: Alex North (original score)
    Arrangement: Kevin Kaska, performed by the Los Angeles Chamber Artists under the direction of Andrew Schulman (2020); grateful acknowledgement to Dylan North
    Costume: Epperson
    Dancer: Ilana Ruth Cohen

Event Date

  • January 26, 2024

Running Time

  • 1 hours 24 minutes 35 seconds

Online Format

  • video
  • image
  • online text

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Credit Line: Library of Congress

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Anna Sokolow and the Reimagined Roots of Anti-fascist Dance. 2024. Video. https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11277/.

APA citation style:

(2024) Anna Sokolow and the Reimagined Roots of Anti-fascist Dance. [Video] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11277/.

MLA citation style:

Anna Sokolow and the Reimagined Roots of Anti-fascist Dance. 2024. Video. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/webcast-11277/>.