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The Littlefields


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I have been trying without any luck (NYPL website) to locate a book about Dorothie and Catherine Littlefield's Company. Either my search is wrong, or there aren't any books about them---which I find hard to believe. I seem to recall a book entitled "The Littlefields of Philadelphia". I have located a book on the Christensens which I expect soon.

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I thought there was one as well, atm. Have you tried alibris? (www.alibris.com)

I'm sorry, I don't know a title or a year. I just have a vague recollection of reading about its existence. Whether it was a memoir by one of them or not, I can't say -- sorry! Maybe someone else will know, though. Thanks for raising the question. There SHOULD be a book.

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Thanks Alexandra, I will try Alibris, although I haven't given up yet on NYPL. Lately I have been watching tapes of 'Serenade' and realizing that this work was not created for 'Balanchine dancers" or anyone familiar with his style. Balanchine did work with accomplished dancers when he arrived in America, and although I have a smattering of information about that period, I would like to delve more deeply into it.

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I found this site, http://www.uog.edu/research/

with this presentation title listed;

" Making Ballet American: Catherine Littlefield¹s Choreography for the Philadelphia Ballet, 1937-1938." 2000 Feet. World Dance Congress. Philadelphia, PA. April 1999

There is an email link to the author, Nancy Brooks Schmitz, she might know if there is a book as she has written a paper on the topic?

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Thanks for finding that for us, Lolly!

atm, I think you're onto something. The early history of Serenade is fascinating (the little I know of it). It was a very different ballet then, not only because of the costumes, and the fact that the chunkier, more athletic bodies we see in photos MUST have looked different dancing those steps, but because most (each?) dancer had a tiny solo. But it didn't have that pretty, pretty "jeune fille" look, I think.

I used to love Dance Theatre of Harlem's version because they danced it with such power.

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Lolly and Alexandra---I did get a reply from Dr. Schmitz. She said she found no books on the Littlefields, but got her information mainly from 1930's articles in Dance Magazine, and also parts of old books. I found out pretty much the same on the NYPL site with the Ann Barzel Collection. But there is something very intriguing about the Barzel Video collection. Loads of excerpts that were originally on 16mm on Video tape---from the 30's 40's and 50's. I told Dr. Schmitz about BalletAlert, so maybe we will be hearing from her.

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Thank you, atm -- I hope we do hear from her. The Ann Barzel collection is legendary -- I've never seen it, but I've heard about it as long as I've been interested in ballet. She apparently filmed everything. Absolutely everything. Well, everything that came to Chicago! Silent, grain, old films, but if it's there. I believe some of the films are in the Dance Collection -- but I write that on hearsay, without checking. (tsk tsk, yes, I know)

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ann barzel is strill alive in chicago. i talked to her about a month ago. she used to bring her films to the ruth page school to show to the students, i recall one such presentation where she brought only 'giselle', but the same moments from different casts over a period of 30 years! (markova and dolin etc.) . it was wonderful!

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On 8/12/2002 at 2:52 PM, atm711 said:

I have been trying without any luck (NYPL website) to locate a book about Dorothie and Catherine Littlefield's Company. Either my search is wrong, or there aren't any books about them---which I find hard to believe. I seem to recall a book entitled "The Littlefields of Philadelphia". I have located a book on the Christensens which I expect soon.

My biography of Catherine Littlefield, entitled Catherine Littlefield: A Life in Dance, was just published by Oxford University Press.  https://www.amazon.com/Catherine-Littlefield-Dance-Sharon-Skeel/dp/0190654546

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