- unitid
-
{"value"=>"24330", "type"=>"local_mss"}
{"value"=>"JPB 17-17", "type"=>"local_call"}
{"value"=>"b21497707", "type"=>"local_b"}
- unitdate
-
{"value"=>"1981-2005", "type"=>"inclusive", "normal"=>"1981/2005"}
- unittitle
-
{"value"=>"Judith Ren-Lay papers"}
- physdesc
-
{"format"=>"structured", "physdesc_components"=>[{"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"2 boxes", "unit"=>"containers"}, {"name"=>"extent", "value"=>"0.63 linear feet", "unit"=>"linear_feet"}], "supress_display"=>true}
- repository
-
{"value"=>"<span class=\"corpname\">Music Division</span>"}
- abstract
-
{"value"=>"Judith Ren-Lay (born in 1943) is a New York City-based dancer, vocalist, and performance artist. The Judith Ren-Lay papers, dating from 1981 to 2005, document the musical portions of Ren-Lay's artistic output through notes, scores, lyrics, publicity literature, clippings, programs, and business documents."}
- langmaterial
-
{"value"=>"English"}
- origination
-
{"value"=>"Ren-Lay, Judith", "type"=>"persname", "role"=>"cmp"}
- bioghist
-
{"value"=>"<p>Judith Ren-Lay (born in 1943) is a New York City-based dancer, vocalist, and performance artist. Born and raised in Denver, Colorado, Ren-Lay began attending the University of Colorado in 1960, studying drama. She continued her education at the University of Maryland in the late 1960s, majoring in dance and performing with the Maryland Dance Company.</p> <p>Ren-Lay moved to Connecticut in the early 1970s, and was known briefly under her married surname, Galligan. She trained with modern dancer Ernestine Stodelle, and performed as a member of Stodelle's Choreo-Lyric Dancers. Ren-Lay also danced with and choreographed for the New Haven Dance Ensemble from 1970 to 1975. In Connecticut, she taught dance and movement workshops, worked as a visiting artist, and performed original works with the support of the Connecticut Commission on the Arts and the Connecticut Ballet. From 1975 to 1980, Ren-Lay was a principal and soloist with the Solomons Company/Dance in New York City. She toured with the company, and served as Gus Solomons, Jr.'s teaching assistant at the California Institute for the Arts during the company's residency in California.</p> <p>In 1980, Ren-Lay left Solomons Company/Dance and established herself in New York City as a performance artist, blending theatre, dance, and music. She began performing original solo works, producing between eight to ten new pieces each year. She regularly performed at New York City venues such as Performance Space 122, the Knitting Factory, and the Danspace Project, in addition to touring successful pieces in California, Colorado, and Europe. In 1985, Ren-Lay received a commission from avant-garde art organization Franklin Furnace to develop <span class=\"title\">The Grandfather Tapes</span>, a piece that included recorded interviews with Ren-Lay's grandfather, a birth control pioneer and the inventor of the style of tampon later known as Tampax. Ren-Lay received a New York Dance and Performance Award (known as a Bessie) for choreography in <span class=\"title\">The Grandfather Tapes</span>. The next year, she received her first of two National Endowment for the Arts fellowships for choreography.</p> <p>Ren-Lay has also produced music-centered work, such as scores to the silent films <span class=\"title\">Witchcraft Through The Ages</span> and <span class=\"title\">Girl Of The Rancho</span>; live collaborations with Mark Helias; Soup, a performing collaboration with Cebello Morales, Mio Morales, and Mark White; <span class=\"title\">Strata</span> and <span class=\"title\">Out Of Nowhere</span> (recorded compilations of Ren-Lay's work); and vocal works such as <span class=\"title\">Boomerang</span>.</p> <p>Ren-Lay was hospitalized for five months in 1989 following complications from open-heart surgery. She returned to performing the next year, and developed the piece <span class=\"title\">To the Beat of Impossible Causes</span> in response to the experience. Ren-Lay performed throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, in addition to mounting art exhibitions and writing poetry. As of 2017, she continues teaching and choreographing in New York City.</p>"}
- scopecontent
-
{"value"=>"<p>The Judith Ren-Lay papers, dating from 1981 to 2005, document the musical portions of Ren-Lay's artistic output. Comprised of notes, scores, lyrics, publicity literature, clippings, programs, and business documents, the collection has files on compositions, recorded compilations, and other projects. These include the compositions <span class=\"title\">Boomerang</span> and <span class=\"title\">The Grandfather Tapes</span>; the scores for the silent films <span class=\"title\">Witchcraft Through The Ages</span> and <span class=\"title\">Girl Of The Rancho</span>; the Soup performing ensemble; and the compilations <span class=\"title\">Strata</span> and <span class=\"title\">Out Of Nowhere</span>. Scores in the collection consist of written notes and narratives, not notated music.</p> <p>The projects with the most content are <span class=\"title\">Out Of Nowhere</span> and <span class=\"title\">Witchcraft Through The Ages</span>. Files for <span class=\"title\">Out Of Nowhere</span> include CD art, a recording contract, and a score for an unidentified work. The files for <span class=\"title\">Witchcraft Through The Ages</span> contain research notes on silent films, development notes, film editing notes, and the finished score, as well as programs and press releases regarding showings in the United States and at the International Festival of Arts and Ideas.</p> <p>The collection also holds a substantial collection of audio and moving image recordings dating from 1975 to 2000. These consist of rehearsals; performances; multi-track work and studio recordings; and the original interviews with Ren-Lay's grandfather on which <span class=\"title\">The Grandfather Tapes</span> was based. Other projects represented in the recordings include the Soup performing ensemble, <span class=\"title\">Boomerang</span>, <span class=\"title\">Half A Life</span>, <span class=\"title\">In Consistency</span>, <span class=\"title\">Invisible Evidence Of Our Angelic Residue</span>, <span class=\"title\">Psyche's Crib</span>, <span class=\"title\">raW</span>, <span class=\"title\">Undercurrent Events</span>, <span class=\"title\">Witchcraft Through The Ages</span>, and the CD compilation <span class=\"title\">Out Of Nowhere</span>.</p> <p>Also present among the recordings are work tapes not clearly associated with particular works or projects. These include early vocal experiments and rehearsals dating from 1979 to 1984; 1990s rehearsals with various musicians; and a poetry performance. The only moving image in the collection is a print of the film <span class=\"title\">Häxan</span> (English title: <span class=\"title\">Witchcraft Through The Ages</span>), edited by Ren-Lay for showings with her live accompaniment.</p>"}
- arrangement
-
{"value"=>"<p>The papers are arranged by project title or format.</p>"}
- acqinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Donated by Judith Ren-Lay, 2017.</p>"}
- processinfo
-
{"value"=>"<p>Processed by <span class=\"name\">Matthew Snyder</span>, <span class=\"date\">2018</span>.</p>"}
- relatedmaterial
-
{"value"=>"<p>Judith Ren-Lay papers, *MGZMD 283. Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library.</p>"}
- date_start
-
1981
- keydate
-
1981
- date_end
-
2005
- date_inclusive_start
-
1981
- date_inclusive_end
-
2005
- extent_statement
-
0.63 linear feet (2 boxes)
- prefercite
-
{"value"=>"Judith Ren-Lay papers, JPB 17-17. Music Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts"}