Billie's Message: An original dance-drama in the modern dance idiom
Billie's Message is a forty-five minute dance drama expressing through dance and narrative the life of Billie Holiday and the consequences of drug abuse in Holiday's life. It was created in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Master of Education (MEd) degree. The project was presented on October 31 and November 1, 1987, in a public concert at the Judy Bayley Theatre at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas; Focus was placed on the life of Billie Holiday and the anti-drug message found in the last chapter of her autobiography, Lady Sings the Blues (Holiday, 1956). The choreographer danced the role of Billie Holiday, wrote the script, was the recorded voice portraying Billie, selected the performers and directed all dramatic sequences; The written account of this project includes an investigation of Billie Holiday's life, a review of related literature, a discussion of production elements, rehearsal photographs, the script, evaluation and future consideration; A videotape of the performance has been placed on file in the Department of Dance Arts at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.
Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations