Aug. 27, 2001; p. 1-19 [corresponds to cassette 1, side A]. Tom Rawe speaks with Jeff Friedman about driving a taxi all night and auditioning the next morning for Twyla Tharp's company [Twyla Tharp and Dancers]; the requirement in Tharp's rehearsals to understand quickly her demonstrations of a movement phrase and mirror it back to her with added detail; how watching the practiced motions of a baseball pitcher, playing tennis, and his engineering education influenced Rawe's search in the studio for energetic movement produced by the least muscular effort. Aug. 27, 2001; p. 19-37 [corresponds to cassette 1, side B]. Tom Rawe speaks with Jeff Friedman about his practice of working alone after rehearsal to solidify his memory and prepare for the next day; Rawe and Friedman discuss Tharp's work The fugue and its many directional changes; they explore the concept of doing without thinking; Rawe discusses his wife Jennifer Way's different approach to mastering choreography, and their dancing as partners; he recounts his youthful experience playing trumpet, which brought him to Interlochen Academy, where he switched his major to dance. Aug. 27, 2001; p. 37-46 [corresponds to cassette 2, side A. Side B was intentionally left blank]. Tom Rawe speaks with Jeff Friedman about the importance of repetition in order to master sequences and make their performance automatic; Tharp's work Sue's leg, in which Tharp made movement so difficult that it had to be solved freshly at each performance; what characterizes an effective opening work on a performance program; his interest in photography, and taking pictures of Tharp's work Deuce coupe. Aug. 29, 2001; p. 47-65 [corresponds to cassette 3, side A]. Tom Rawe speaks with Jeff Friedman about his and Jennifer Way's contributions to the movement style of Twyla Tharp's company; what qualities he misses in current stagings of Tharp's work, especially working out of the ground, momentum, and swing; the resistance of company dancers to a choreographer; improvisation as not interesting in performance but a fertile studio method for building variations of movement phrases; memories of Tharp's work Country dances (later retitled Happily ever after), created in tandem with Making television dance (for WNET's New television workshop); the density of steps and energy demands of Country dances; brief description of In the beginnings, an earlier television work by Tharp which Rawe performed as a solo; changes in the company to scripted, acted works. Aug. 29, 2001; p. 65-84 [corresponds to cassette 3, side B]. Tom Rawe speaks with Jeff Friedman about various dancers in Tharp's company, describing their special physical and acting skills; the Broadway musical Singing in the rain as a turning point in the Tharp company's history; touring in Tharp's work In the upper room, then completely leaving dance. Rawe and Friedman discuss the economics of dance life; Rawe describes his career transition during which he renovated buildings and returned to school to train as a physical therapist; his present work in physical therapy with children; his interest the methods of Moshé Feldenkrais. Aug. 29, 2001; p. 64-104 [corresponds to cassette 4, side A]. Tom Rawe continues to speak with Jeff Friedman about the Feldenkrais method and physical therapy; his satisfaction in working with people; his frustration at the time limitations and perceived profit motivation of workshops; how Tharp company members worked together and helped each other during the group's final five years; his childhood in Alfred, New York; his family; his alternating periods of engineering study and dance study; his eventual commitment to dance and total immersion in the company work; discussion of the impact of reduced public funding for dance; thoughts about his current life and future possibilities. Aug. 29, 2001; p. 104-108 [corresponds to cassette 4, side B]. Tom Rawe speaks with Jeff Friedman about the reluctance of Tharp to create an ongoing administration as compared to Mark Morris's establishment of a studio in Brooklyn, New York; his interactions with Tharp, his readiness to question and challenge her through movement, not words; his commitment to hard work and Tharp's respect for that effort.
