Memories of Ned Rorem (10.23.1923 – 11.18.2022)
I was at work on my biography of Man Ray in the fall of 1984, chatting with Virgil Thomson at his rooms in the Chelsea Hotel, and he urged me to call upon the composer Ned Rorem -- "Man knew him in Paris in the '50's," Thomson told me. I was warmly welcomed by Rorem...
Dance became truly modern @ NYPL/Lincoln Center
Anne Souder (Soloist) and Xin Ying (Principal) of the Martha Graham Dance Company brought NB's new MG biography to life with their vivid performances of Ekstasis and Medea -- and MGDC Artistic Director Janet Eilber's astute questions -- before an attentive and...
A wonderful evening & signing at Little City Books in Hoboken NJ
Dance critic and scholar Apollinaire Scherr talks about MARTHA GRAHAM with Neil Baldwin at Little City Books - November 10, 2022.
Pei-Ju Chien-Pott celebrates MARTHA GRAHAM
Pei-Ju joined the Company in 2011 and was a principal dancer until she moved on in 2016. I am so very proud that she chose to present my book on publication day.
The Martha Graham Tour Begins
Neil Baldwin at Watchung Booksellers, October 27, 2022.
Today I put all of my MG research in the attic
Fourteen linear feet of handwritten research notes from countless library and archival sessions; printed out transcribed notes from listening to audiotaped interviews and sitting with Martha Graham dancers in cafes and studios and homes; downloaded typo-riddled...
EVENTS – FOR NB’s MARTHA GRAHAM
Thursday, October 27, 2022 – 7:00 p.m. Watchung Booksellers – Montclair, NJ - *** featured on Baristanet *** Tuesday, November 1 – NYU Biography Seminar Thursday, November 3 – 7:00 p.m. 92nd St. Y Roundtable – NYC – special ZOOM class! Tuesday & Wednesday,...
Le Violon d’Ingres by Man Ray has been sold today for $12.4 million at Christie’s, a record for any photograph at auction
The security guard in Christie’s lobby last Thursday told me where to find the pre-auction viewing for The Surrealist World of Rosalind Gersten Jacobs & Melvin Jacobs. He motioned to the left, saying “go through the keyhole,” an arched liminal cutout into a...
When is a book…? Ruminations upon MARTHA GRAHAM with six months to go until pub date
I walked into my study this morning, past one of many bookshelves jammed floor to ceiling with ten years' worth of research material for my MARTHA GRAHAM biography, sat down at my desk, and resumed work on proofreading the massive pdf of the final version, due back to...
Canticle for Innocent Comedians by Martha Graham in Three Movements
First movement - The program note written by Janet Eilber, artistic director of the Martha Graham Company, with interpolations and elaborations by NB: Martha Graham created Canticle for Innocent Comedians in 1952, taking the title and inspiration from the 1938 poem by...
Remembering Yuriko – February 2, 1920 – March 8, 2022
It was July 12, 2014. I was one among many -- young students, seasoned faculty, seated and standing in the hushed audience at the Martha Graham School on NYC's upper east side, listening to Yuriko Kikuchi, at the young age of ninety-four, talk about her years with the...
Presenting – Martha Graham – When Dance Became Modern
“It takes about ten years to make a mature dancer,” Martha Graham wrote…and it takes more than ten years (as I have now come to learn) to make a book about a transcendent artist and person. Martha Graham – When Dance Became Modern will be published by Knopf on October...