1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s
TOM BOUCHARD
Martha Hill at Bennington in 1937
with it a bit. The dance crew even collaborated on ballets for his Electra. “And then in 1939, we did The Bridge. That was Arch Lauterer’s idea—he loved that poem of Hart Crane’s. We started work in September—cast it, had a speaking chorus, a singing chorus, solo speakers, solo dancers, an orchestra, an original score. We had a wonderful student cast, too—Carol Channing [’42] was in it. Anybody who had ever known Hart Crane or ever written about him attended the performance—they came from all over. People were so moved, tears streamed down their faces at times. “One of the Bennington associations I treasure most was the opportunity to work with Bill Bales. He was a remarkable man—not only in relation to the College, but to the whole world of dance. I met him first at a dance symposium organized through Carnegie Mellon. I was teaching a class with about a hundred students. Throughout the lesson, one young man became the outstanding character in this group of heterogeneous men and women. So I thought— oh, I must talk to that young man before I leave. After
class, I went over and sat near the grand piano to watch. And under it was sitting this young man I wanted to talk to, William Bales. Under the grand piano. So I tell people—when I met Bill Bales, he wasn’t in a basket in the bulrushes, he was under a grand piano. It was very appropriate. “Bill became an excellent teacher, and landed in a guest teaching slot at Bennington. We were lucky to have him. Then he came permanently, and we shared the dance division, collaborating on all productions. When I left in 1951, he took over. “I do think of myself as a pioneer—it’s what we called the first classes at Bennington: pioneers. But if I have to name the one accomplishment I’m proudest of, I think it’s probably achieving collaboration, sometimes between very unlikely groups. “I like to say, my major is people. That’s my talent— I am good about understanding and reconciling different points of view. It seems to me I’m a sort of catalyst— pushing things ahead. That’s always been my role.” From Quadrille, Vol. 25, No. 1, 1993
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