"The most effective creation was Mr. Jonassaint's audacious 'Serenade for Dead Men,' to the same Tchaikovsky score that accompanies 'Serenade,' George Balanchine's bittersweet masterpiece of 1934," Anderson wrote. "As in the older work, groups crystallized and dissolved and soloists darted in and out. But whereas Balanchine emphasized women, this was a ballet for an all-male cast. Its mood was elegiac, its patterns were attractive and its only heavy-handed moment came when an allegorical Christ figure welcomed men who supposedly represented the spirits of great choreographers and dancers.

"In Mr. Jonassaint's mysterious 'Inner Voice,' Peter Lentz, of Ballet Theater, portrayed a brooding model in a painter's studio. This character encountered Melissa Lentz, the dancer's sister, who wore an elegant gown that made her resemble a goddess in one of Jean Cocteau's chic updatings of Greek mythology. As she moved, Ms. Lentz, a mezzo-soprano with the Metropolitan Opera Company, sang Villa-Lobos's haunting 'Bachiana Brasileira No. 5,' to the ugitar accompaniment of Derek Kudrow, and she seemed to be an artist's muse.

"Mr. Jonassaint also contributed 'Full Moon Over Central Park,' a not entirely convincing study of sexual violence, to a new score by Robert Ruggieri."

Bringing together his work as a choreographer, poet, composer and costume designer, Jonassaint created a multimedia dance/theater piece, Poetry in the Life of A.I.D.S. (1995), featuring thirty dancers, actors, singers and musicians. According to the press release, the piece focussed on "the spiritual and positive effects of the HIV/AIDS crisis, especially as is effects [sic] the gay and lesbian community, as well as other minority groups." The piece was performed at the Triangle Theater, on the campus of Long Island University. At the time of his death, according to dance critic and editor Elizabeth Zimmer, Jonassaint was attempting to have the work produced on film. Jonassaint died from AIDS-related causes.

KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
American Ballet Theatre
890 Broadway
New York, New York 10003
212-477-3030
212-254-5938 (fax)

HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
(name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
Charles David Anderson, who had been teaching ballet in Santa Monica and moved to northern California August 1999; not able to find.

VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
(location, format, condition, assessment):
None of Jonassaint's choreography is documented in the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library, but this is a characteristic document of Jonassaint's dancing:

Dance Theatre of Harlem (1986)—compilation video performed by Dance Theatre of Harlem and telecast on the Dance in America series, 21 February; includes performance by Jonassaint; co-produced by Danmarks Radio and WNET/13; one 3/4 in. videocassette (58 min.); call number MGZIC 9-4455.

PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
(location, format, condition, assessment):
None identified.

MOVEMENT NOTATION
(location, type [including notes taken by dancers], assessment):
None identified.

PRODUCTION MATERIALS
(scores, sound recordings, set/costume designs):
None identified.

ORAL HISTORY:
None identified.

PERSONAL PAPERS
(location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
The script of Jonassaint's final work was sent to critic Elizabeth Zimmer; a copy is now in D. Gere's files.

IMMEDIATE NEEDS
(archival assistance? storage? other?):
Search for executor.

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
None identified.

LIST OR OVERVIEW OF WORKS
(title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):

Portraits (1988)—American Ballet Theater Choreographer's Workshop.

Pas de Deux for Christine Dunham and Charles Askegard (1989)—American Ballet Theater Choreographer's Workshop.

Silent Cry and Solo (1990)—American Ballet Theater Choreographer's Workshop.

Serenade for Dead Men (1993)—Ballet Inc.

Inner Voice (1993)—Ballet Inc.

Full Moon Over Central Park (1993)—Ballet Inc.

Poetry in the Life of A.I.D.S. (Acquired Inner Discovery of Salvation) (1995)

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

• Anderson, Jack. 1993. "Review/Dance: A Very Mixed Bag, Choreographically." New York Times (25 November).
• ________. 1994. "New York Newsletter: Paul Taylor and Others." Dancing Times (January): 342-343, illus.
• Dance Magazine. 1997. "Obituaries: Carld Jorel Jonassaint." November: 86, 88.
• Greskovic, Robert. 1994. "Reviews, New York City: Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater." Dance Magazine (April): 76, 78, illus.