Marjorie Gamso (1944-2011) was a choreographer, dancer, and founder of the Energy Crisis dance group. The collection, dated from 1969 to 2015, primarily documents her career in New York City from 1971 until her death via correspondence, notes, photographs, press releases, and research materials.
Marjorie Gamso was born in 1944 and grew up in the Upper West Side of Manhattan, New York City. She attended Hunter High School and took dance classes at the 92nd Street Y. In 1968, she earned a bachelor's degree in anthropology from Columbia University. After graduation, Gamso moved to California where she studied with ballerina Carmelita Maracci in Hollywood, and appeared in two of Steve Paxton's early works, Satisfyin' Lover and States at the Ace Gallery in Venice, California in 1969. In 1970, she presented her first dance, Octopus City, at an Experiments and Technology festival at the University of Southern California.
Gamso moved back to New York City in 1971, where she studied with James Waring and Merce Cunningham. Her dance group, The Energy Crisis, was founded in 1973 and was active throughout the 1980s. In the early 1980s, Gamso, Jane Comfort, and Tim Miller collaborated on a series of events at P.S. 1 in Queens.
Other works by Gamso include Gestures in Ambush (1977), Tale of Two Cities (1979), The Hour of the Horizon (1985), Her 1001 Nights (1988), the Enlightenment series (1990s), and Life in Storage (2009).
Marjorie Gamso was diagnosed with a terminal illness on September 30, 2011. She died later that year.
The Marjorie Gamso collection is dated from 1969 to 2015. The collection contains announcements; programs; press releases; notes; correspondence; research material; unfinished projects and proposals; writings elucidating her work and creative process; and scripts.
Some items were annotated by Gamso's collaborators, including Mary Jane Leach and Sally Bowden, following her death.
Arranged alphabetically.
Donated by Andrew Gurian and Jeffrey Gamso, 2017.
Processed by Susan M. Kline in 2018.