Richka.net presents
Dancing
On A
Greyhound Bus
Recollections of Dancer-Choreologist Richard Holden |
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On October 14, 2015
Richard passed away in Tucson, Arizona at age 88 due
to complications from relapsed cancer. His
whole life was devoted to making the world more
beautiful for everyone - JD
Arizona Daily Star obituary
On November 5, 2016 the University of Arizona Dance
Department presented a Tribute to Richard Holden.
They presented a memorial slide show which you can
view on
YouTube. |
Richard Holden, a soloist with
the Metropolitan Opera Ballet during its opening season at Lincoln
Center, became the first American resident Choreologist with the
Met, American Ballet Theater, Harkness Ballet, and Joffrey Ballet.
Born in Braintree, Massachusetts,
the youngest of five children of an abandoned mother, he grew up
fatherless, in poverty and abuse. At 14 he discovered dance after
reading the life of Vaslav Nijinsky and was inspired to become a
dancer. Russian speaking, he found a dance teacher in Boston, Senia
Russakoff, who taught him Russian character dancing. At 16 he left
Boston for NYC to pursue a ballet career, studying first with George
Chaffee, then as a scholarship student at Ballet Theater school
under Bronislava Nijinska, sister of Vaslav. During the 60s he
danced with Ballets Minerva in England and graduated from the London
Institute Of Choreology as the first American choreologist. He later
became soloist with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet during the first
season in Lincoln Center and resident choreologist for the Met and
with American Ballet Theater, Joffrey Ballet, and Harkness Ballet.
He is also a choreographer, writer, Russian language translator,
musician, and book illustrator.
The
chapters in this online book
chronologically fill in the details of the two
summary paragraphs above. There are many unique contemporary
observations of persons and places that comprise the 20th century
dance world. Illustrated with numerous vintage photographs and
drawings, the book takes the reader on an engaging and insightful
journey. As well, the reader will find out what a Choreologist
does!
Please as well visit
Richka.Com for Russian folk music,
pictures, and full length online performance videos.
James Duncan
OKAY Multimedia
Santa Cruz, California April 8, 2006
Dancing on a Greyhound Bus
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