Harmonica Breakdown. Speaking about the dance - ACE312.2

Dancer. Jane Dudley talking about her life in 1938 when she and her colleagues believed they could change society, being part of a big community, and knowing people like Woodie Guthrie, Aaron Copland, Clifford Odets, etc. Photographs from the Depression and the Dust Bowl period; field workers, men on demonstrations, etc. Dudley VO talking about having the feeling that "the country was in a mess". Dudley rehearsing dancer. Dudley talking about Harmonica Breakdown, which she says came about from watching a performance by the blind Sonny Terry in 1938. Film of Terry playing. Dudley talking about the rhythmic nature of the dance which follows the washboard beat on the recording she chose. Terry playing. Dudley recites some words from the song. Photographs of Dudley performing in 1938. She talks about the structure of the dance and the ideas in it. Photograph of isolated farmhouse. Dancer performing. Jane Dudley and the "growth impulse". Credits.