NAME: Wengerd, Tim

BIRTH DATE/LOCATION:
4 January 1945, Chelsea, Mass.

DEATH DATE/LOCATION:
12 September 1989, at home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, age 44

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Photo: Diana Roach

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  • identification & bio
  • key contact
  • human repositories
  • video documentation
  • photographic documentation
    		•
  • movement notation
  • production materials
  • oral history
  • personal papers
  • immediate needs
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  • other relevant information
  • overview of works
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    IDENTIFICATION AND BIO:
    A leading dancer with the Martha Graham Dance Company from 1973 to 1982, Tim Wengerd was also an independent choreographer. Wengerd helped found the Repertory Dance Theater of Utah as a young man and later made works for companies based in Mexico and New Mexico. Wengerd studied dance at the University of Utah, from which he graduated Phi Beta Kappa in 1969. (Repertory Dance Theater had already formed in 1966 in Salt Lake City. Wengerd’s mother reports that he studied dance at University of New Mexico, Albuequerque, with Elizabeth Waters when he was still in high school, and that he began making dances at that time.) After leaving the Graham company in 1982, Wengerd taught and created his own work, serving as assistant director of the Paris Opera Ballet's modern dance offshoot, presenting solo concerts in New York, and, in the last year of his life, creating works for Mexican dance companies on a Fulbright fellowship. Wengerd also won a Fulbright to Tanzania, Africa, and spent time in Hawaii, Costa Rica and Spain creating works and teaching.

    KEY CONTACT PERSON(S)/EXECUTOR OF ESTATE:
    Survived by parents, Florence Mather Wengerd and Dr. Sherman A. Wengerd of Albuquerque and three sisters, Stephanie Allen and Diana Roach of Albuquerque and Anne Riffey of California, and his former wife, Christine Mallouk

    Florence Mather Wengerd, mother, executor
    1040 Stanford Dr. NE
    Albuquerque, NM 87106-2627
    505-255-2351

    Diana W. Roach, sister, heir
    701 Northern Blvd.
    Rio Rancho, NM 87124
    505-891-9618 (home)
    droach@flash.net

    Stephanie Allen, sister, heir
    1040 Columbia Dr. NE
    Albuquerque, NM 87106-2627
    505-266-3120

    Anne Riffey
    6362 Golden West
    Temple City, CA 91780

    HUMAN REPOSITORIES OF THE WORK
    (name and contact info, relationship to the artist and the work, assessment):
    None identified. According to his mother, many of his works were solos.

    Wengerd's Brahms Lento was reset at the University of New Mexico c. 1998.

    VIDEO DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    Wengerd's mother, Florence, holds approximately 30 VHS videotapes of his performances and choreography. These are organized on shelves in her home. Among these tapes are documentation of his 1985 performance at Riverside Church (see below) as well as works created for the University of New Mexico, Albuquerque; University of California, San Diego; and other university programs. One of the works created in San Diego is Free Among the Dead, a dance specifically about AIDS. Florence Wengerd also holds many Beta-format videotapes of Wengerd’s performances with the Martha Graham company.

    Some photographs and videotapes were donated to the University of Utah Dance Department by the family. The family also started a dance scholarship there in Wengerd's name. Phyllis Haskell is the current head of the Dance Department.

    At the Dance Collection of the New York Public Library, there are several videos of Tim Wengerd dancing in pieces from the Graham repertory. His own choreography, however, is represented more sparsely:

    30 Miles [and] Eine Kleine Nachtmusik [and] Dithyramb (1974)—performance by students of the School of Performing Arts, New York, 1 June, videotaped by Dennis Diamond; includes Tim Wengerd's Dithyramb, music by Walter Mays (funeral music for Jan Palach); danced by Brenda Braxton, Ruth Davidson, Donna Jacobs, Roy Pacheco, AllyneDeChallus, Wendy Edmead, Deirdre Lovell, and the senior modern dance class; one 3/4-inch videocassette; call number MGZIC 7-486.

    PHOTOGRAPHIC DOCUMENTATION
    (location, format, condition, assessment):
    Florence Wengerd holds a large number of photographs of her son's work in drawers and boxes at home. She also has many photos from the Graham company, some of which were retrieved when Tim Wengerd was helping Martha Graham to sort her archive. As noted above, some photographs were donated to the University of Utah Dance Department.

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

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

    ORAL HISTORY:
    Florence Wengerd is aware of two oral histories, both of which are in her possession: Betty Garcia interviewing Tim Wengerd for her Ph.D. dissertation at University of New Mexico, Albuequerque (portions of this interview are on a videotape held by Wengerd's mother which has been transcribed; it is titled "Tim Wengerd: Artistry," on six audiotapes); and Marilyn Hunt conducting an oral history with Wengerd that is contained on five audiotapes.

    PERSONAL PAPERS
    (location of newspaper clippings, printed programs, press releases, notes, files, diaries; assessment):
    Florence Wengerd holds a variety of clippings, programs, and writings. These are contained in boxes and drawers at her home. The Dance Collection of the New York Public Library maintains a clippings file for "Wengerd, Tim," call number MGZR.

    IMMEDIATE NEEDS
    (archival assistance? storage? other?):
    Other than the donation already made to the University of Utah, Wengerd's mother, Florence, has not thought about donating her materials. However, she seems open to that possibility. She also expressed interest in gathering together some of Wengerd's materials for publication.

    According to Wengerd's sister, Diana Roach, the family would like to transfer the videos onto DVD, or a format that will not deteriorate.

    Assistance would be needed to create a complete list of Wengerd's choreography.

    OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION:
    None.

    LIST OR OVERVIEW OF WORKS
    (title, premiere date, music, production notes, performers):
    This list is incomplete; no comprehensive accounting of Wengerd's choreography currently exists:

    Up and Down the Days (1985)—Wengerd solo; performed at Riverside Church, New York City.

    Brahms Lento (1985)—Wengerd solo; performed at Riverside Church, New York City.

    Bone Song (1985)—Wengerd solo; performed at Riverside Church, New York City.

    Journey to the Mouth of the River (1985)—Wengerd solo; performed at Riverside Church, New York City.

    Free Among the Dead (n.d.)—solo created in San Diego, regarding AIDS.

    BIBLIOGRAPHY:

    • Dance/USA Journal. 1989. "Obituaries: Tim Wengerd" (Nov/Dec): 28.
    • Dunning, Jennifer. 1985. "Dance: Tim Wengerd in a Program of Solos." New York Times (8 December).
    • Hering, Doris. 1969. "Reviews: Repertory Dance Theatre, Delacorte Theater, September 9-13, 1969." Dance Magazine (November): 38-39, 78-80.
    • Hunt, Marilyn. 1990. "Obituaries: Tim Wengerd." Dance Magazine (March): 69-70.
    • New York Times. 1989. "Tim Wengerd, 44, Choreographer and Ex-Martha Graham Dancer" (29 September): B7.
    • Wengerd, Tim. 19??. [Article on Martha Graham after her death.] Dance Magazine n.d.
         		 
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