S. Hurok Presents; A Memoir of the Dance WorldHurok, Sol
History
S. Hurok Presents; A Memoir of the Dance World
Hurok, Sol
Ballet -- History
Armed with this information, I proceeded to bombard the _Times_ with
protests. One of these was directly to the head of the editorial
department, whom I asked to reprint the notice that had been dropped. I
was rather summarily told I was not to try to dictate to the _Times_
what it should print. By now utterly exasperated, I got hold of my
friend “Bill” Chase, who drily counselled me to “keep my shirt on.”
Chase immediately went on a tour of investigation. He called me back to
tell me that the Board of Editors at their daily meeting had gone into
the matter but were unwilling to print the notice I had asked, since
they had been “scooped” by the other newspapers and it was, therefore,
no longer news: but, they had decided that, in the future, Martin would
have a by-line. Then Chase added, with that wry New England humour of
his for which he was famous, that, with the possession of a by-line, no
editor would dare “kill” a review. It might, of course, be cut for
space, but never “killed.”
The next Sunday the readers of the _New York Times_ read John Martin’s
notice of Mary Wigman’s first performance, and it was uncut. But it was
a paid advertisement, bearing, in bold-faced type, the heading: “_THE
NEWS THAT’S FIT TO REPRINT_.”
As a result of the New York _première_, the “pencilled” tour was
“inked,” and I traveled most of the tour with the Priestess. Newspaper
men continued to demand to know the “meaning” of her dances. Since
Wigman, most literate of dancers, refused any explanation, I made up my
own. I told a reporter that Wigman was continuing and developing the
work of Isadora Duncan. The reporter wrote his story. It was printed.
Wigman read it without comment. From then on, however, Wigman’s reply to
all queries on the subject was: “Where Isadora Duncan stopped, there I
began.”
The quickly “inked” tour was a success beyond any anticipations I had
had, and a second tour was booked and played with equal success. The
mistake I made was when I brought her back for a third season, and with
a group of her disciples. America would accept one Wigman; but twenty
husky, bulky Teutonic Amazons in bathing suits with skirts were more
than our public could take.
Moreover, the group was not typical of the Wigman “schule” at anything
like its best. As a matter of fact, it was a long way from the Teutonic
Priestess’s highest standards.
* * * * *
It was after the war. Mrs. Hurok and I were paying our first post-war
visit to Switzerland, and stopped off at Zurich. My right-hand bower,
Mae Frohman, had come to Zurich to join us. We learned that Wigman was
there as well, giving master-classes in association with Harald
Kreutzberg. Our initial efforts to find her were not successful.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account