NAME: Lamhut, Phyllis

BIRTH DATE/LOCATION:
14 November 1933, Brooklyn, New York

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Eleo Pomare, Robert Small, Clay Taliafero, and Manuel Alum in Phyllis Lamhut's Man.
Photo: Tom Caravaglia, courtesy Phyllis Lamhut.

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  • identification & bio
  • key contact
  • human repositories
  • video documentation
  • photographic documentation
    		•
  • movement notation
  • production materials
  • oral history
  • personal papers
  • immediate needs
    		•
  • other relevant information
  • overview of works
  • bibliography
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    IDENTIFICATION AND BIO:
    Phyllis Lamhut received her professional training in dance from Alwin Nikolais. She was a principal dancer with Alwin Nikolais Dance Company and a leading dancer with the Murray Louis Dance Company. In 1970 she incorporated the Phyllis Lamhut Dance Company. As a member of the Nikolais, Louis, and Lamhut Companies, she has performed worldwide on concert stages and television. She has directed the National Association of Regional Ballet Craft of Choreography Conference and The National Canadian Composer/ Choreographer Seminar; participated in the Venice Biennale Move Man Project and the Israeli Dance/Music Workshop, and the Carlisle Project "New Impulses" workshop; and has served as choreographic advisor to Bebe Miller, Mark Dendy, and Wally Cardona. She is a Guggenheim Fellow and received 16 Choreography Fellowships from the NEA, as well as numerous awards from the New York State Council on the Arts and Meet the Composer. In 1989 Lamhut premiered Man, a series of solos for Ben Hazard, Manuel Alum, Eleo Pomare, Robert Small, and Clay Taliaferro, which are framed by a trio of women, Natasha Simon, Andrea Borak, and Lorn MacDougal. Lamhut has said that she made the hour-long work in response to the AIDS epidemic.

    KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
    Phyllis Lamhut

    212-799-9048

    plamhut@dellnet.com

    HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
    (name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
    Phyllis Lamhut, Ben Hazard, Manuel Alum, Eleo Pomare, Robert Small, Clay Taliaferro.

    VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    Man has been documented on videotape and is available for viewing at the New York Public Library Dance Collection:

    Man (1989)—choreography by Phyllis Lamhut and performed by Phyllis Lamhut Dance Company at St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery; music by Ben Hazard; costumes by Lois Bewley; lighting by Jon Garness; one 3/4 in. cassette (61 min); call number MGZIC 9-2688.

    PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    At the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library:

    Man (Lamhut) / [Photographs]; call number MGZEA.

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

    PRODUCTION MATERIALS
    (scores, sound recordings, set/costume designs):
    Lamhut maintains all production materials.

    ORAL HISTORY:
    The Dance Collection of the New York Public Library holds the following oral history, on soundtape and as printed transcript:

    Interview with Phillis Lamhut (1993)—interviewed by Lesley Farlow 3 February and 24 March at Lamhut's apartment; topics including "the creation of Man with Ben Hazard, Eleo Pomare, Clay Taliaferro, Manuel Alum, and Robert Small"; 3 sound cassettes (4 hrs.); call number MGZTC 3-1817 (sound recording), MGZMT 3-1817 (transcript, 134 leaves).

    PERSONAL PAPERS
    (location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
    The Dance Collection of the New York Public Library maintains a clippings file for "Lamhut, Phyllis," call number MGZR.

    IMMEDIATE NEEDS
    (archival assistance? storage? other?):
    None identified.

    OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
    Cast members Ben Hazard and Manuel Alum have since died of AIDS.

    LIST OR OVERVIEW OF WORKS
    (title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):
    Among a very large repertory, the following work by Lamhut specifically concerns AIDS:

    Man (1989)—Phyllis Lamhut Dance Company; St. Mark's Church, New York City

    BIBLIOGRAPHY:

    • Deresiewicz, Bill. 1991. "Only the Fit Survive." Dance Magazine (March): 54-56.
    • Dunning, Jennifer. 1989. "A Work on AIDS." The New York Times (18 June).
    • Goldman, Phyllis. 1989. "Phyllis Lamhut." Backstage (28 July).
    • Jowitt, Deborah. 1989. "Staring at Darkness." Village Voice (4 July).
    • Lewis, Julinda. 1990. "Reviews...New York City." Dance Magazine (January): 93.
    • Siegel, Marcia. 1989. "Man as Mensch." New York Press (23 June).
    • Stodelle Ernestine. 1989. "American Dancers Hit Mark." New Haven Register (9 July).
    • Wallach, Maya. "Lamhut Loses the Line Between Art and Death." 1989/90. Attitude 6 (2) (Winter): 37.
         		 
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