Unique Gesture: Exploring the Alwin Nikolais & Murray Louis Dance Collection
September 18, 2019
An exhibit of two American pioneers of modern dance, Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis, is now on display on the fifth floor of Alden Library. The exhibit, titled 鈥淯nique Gesture,鈥 is visually delightful and showcases the diversity of materials in the Libraries鈥 Alwin Nikolais and Murray Louis Dance Collection.
Additionally, there will be a separate exhibit and presentation by faculty of dance, Tresa Randall and Gladys Bailin, titled 鈥淓xploring the Career of Gladys Bailin鈥 on Oct. 11 from 3-5 p.m. in the Music and Dance Library inside Glidden Hall. The event is free and open to the public.
About Nikolais & Louis
Coined the father of multimedia, Nikolais鈥 career spanned 55 years and included everything from choreographing dance and opera, to designing costumes and props, to composing music and creating sets. Years later, Nikolais merged with the Murray Louis Dance Company to form a single company鈥擬urray Louis and Alwin Nikolais Dance, the collection of which was later donated to 帝王会所 Libraries.
鈥淭he [Nikolais/Louis] collection not only documents the dances themselves, but all the work behind it. You will get to see elements of costume design and lighting design, choreography, posters and promotion. It is [viewing] the company in a really wholistic way, not just through performances,鈥 explains Stacey Lavender, co-curator of the exhibit and special collections librarian for the Libraries鈥 manuscript collections.
Lavender, who works closely with librarians and instructors to help integrate special collections like the Nikolais/Louis collection into the classroom, teamed up with lorraine wochna, co-curator of the exhibit and subject librarian for the performing arts, to create the exhibit.
鈥淭he thing that I have been learning is not only the sense of history that you get about dance, but also鈥 you look at their first dance, and then all of a sudden, you see they are becoming internationally [known]. You can see it through their pamphlets and programs for all of the events. You watch them become an international [dance] company鈥攚here everyone knows who they are all over the world,鈥 says wochna.
Classroom Visits and Research
Viewing the exhibits of special collections is two-fold for the viewer: it opens the doors to the visually intriguing, unique materials held in the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections in Alden Library, like the dance collection, but exhibits also give students and scholars a glimpse of the scope, depth and size of collections stewarded by the Mahn Center, and which are available for research.
鈥淚t is also really fun for me [to curate an exhibit] because it is an opportunity for me to really dig into the collections, and I get to do a little bit of telling a story about the materials and putting them together in a creative way鈥攁nd it helps me later provide reference services and research assistance of those materials [to students and instructors],鈥 continues Lavender.
The Nikolais/Louis collection is currently being used in classroom instruction by OHIO faculty like Tresa Randall, associate professor in the School of Dance, who has been bringing her students to the Mahn Center for years to experience first-hand the materials and to learn how dance historians use primary sources.
鈥淭he modern dance history class [that I teach] has a research project built into it that involves using the Nikolais/Louis collection,鈥 explains Randall.
The four well-known, and in most cases, internationally recognized dances highlighted in the exhibit鈥斺淜aleidoscope,鈥 鈥淚mago,鈥 鈥淎viary鈥 and 鈥淐rucible鈥濃攁re the same dances Randall鈥檚 students research.
鈥淚 am interested in the students seeing the evolution of [Nikolais鈥橾 work over time, and seeing also how the critical reviews of his work change very much from 鈥楰aleidoscope鈥 in the 1950s to 鈥楥rucible鈥 in the 1980s鈥 Also, I selected those particular four dances because they are among his best-known works, and they received the most critical response鈥攚ith the exception of 鈥楢viary,鈥 鈥 says Randall. 鈥淚 threw that one in there because it is a really good example of the importance of college and university residencies.鈥
About Gladys Bailin
According to Randall, there was a period in Nikolais鈥 career when being invited to a college residency for a few weeks with his company was not only good financially and in terms of visibility, but also helped in the development of modern dance departments in colleges and universities. In the 1970s, for example, OHIO鈥檚 School of Dance hired one of Nikolais鈥 company dancers, , who later became the director and earned the prestigious title of distinguished professor in the School of Dance.
Bailin, who performed and toured nationally and internationally with both the Nikolais and Louis companies, brings decades of experience and significant importance as a professional dancer, choreographer and dance educator.
鈥淕ladys recently donated her collection of [dance] materials from her career to Archives and Special Collections, so some of those materials will be featured in the Music and Dance exhibit,鈥 says Lavender. 鈥淪o, it is a really nice and timely way to celebrate her donation and her support of the dance collections here.鈥
Wochna smiles and chimes in, 鈥淪o, we want to celebrate her [achievements], just Gladys, at the Music and Dance Library.鈥
Please stop by and visit both exhibits鈥攁nd mark your calendars for the presentation 鈥淓xploring the Career of Gladys Bailin鈥 with speakers Randall and Bailin on Oct. 11 from 3-5 p.m. starting in the Music and Dance Library, fifth floor Glidden Hall, and ending with the exhibit, 鈥淯nique Gesture,鈥 inside Alden Library. Light refreshments will be served.
To request accessibility accommodations for this event, please contact Jen Harvey.