Columbia Center for Oral History Portal > Oral history interview with Deborah Hay, 2014Biographical NoteDeborah Hay is an experimental choreographer working in the field of postmodern dance and one of the founding members of the Judson Dance Theater. She trained at the New York City Ballet and performed at City Center. She married artist Alex Hay in 1961; he introduced her to the art world. In 1964, Hay danced with the Cunningham Dance Company during a six-month tour through Europe and Asia. She also worked with other dancers and choreographers as part of Judson Dance Theater. She established the Deborah Hay Dance Company in 1980, based in Austin, Texas
Scope and ContentsHay describes her early life in New York, meeting Robert Rauschenberg at the Merce Cunningham studio where she was taking classes and he worked as a set designer. She discusses her memories of departing for their trip to Venice, Italy in 1964. She talks about how working with so many different kinds of artists led her to casting non-dancers in her own work. She talks about connecting with Rauschenberg through dance and movement, and the great loss she felt when their friendship drifted apart. She reflects on losing touch with Rauschenberg from 1976 until their last meeting at a 1998 retrospective in Houston. She states that she never saw him again, and felt that only by returning to Captiva Island for the residency was she able to reconnect with him, and say her last goodbye
SubjectsAccess ConditionsCopyright by the Trustees of Columbia University in the City of New York and Robert Rauschenberg Foundation, 2014
| |
