Biographical Note
Arrangement
Preferred Citation
Scope and Content
Conditions Governing Use
Conditions Governing Access
Acquisition
Title: Saida Gerrard papers
Collection number: 0341
Contributing Institution:
USC Libraries Special Collections
Language of Material:
English
Physical Description:
12.0 Linear feet
10 boxes
Date (inclusive): 1930-1980
Abstract: The collection consists of costumes, manuscripts, programs, photographs, and clippings pertaining to choreographer/dancer
Saida Gerrard from the 1930s through the 1970s.
creator:
Gerrard, Saida, 1913-2005
Biographical Note
Saida Gerrard was a performer, choreographer, student, and teacher of modern dance. Born in 1913, she grew up in Toronto,
Canada in a family of Russian Jewish immigrants. Her parents were amateur musicians who exposed her to music and dance at
an early age. As a child, she studied music and dance at the Hambourg Conservatory of Music in Toronto and at the Toronto
Conservatory of Music, including Dalcroze Eurythmics with Madeleine Boss Lasserre. She would go on to study dance and perform
with some of the greatest individuals in modern dance, including Vilzak-Scholler, Margaret Craske, Hanya Holm, Louis Horst,
Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Martha Graham, Fe Alf, Amy Sternberg, and Benjamin Zemach.
In the late 1930s Gerrard moved to New York where she studied on scholarship with Hanya Holm at the Mary Wigman School. From
1943-1948, she studied modern dance techniques with Martha Graham. In 1945, she joined the Charles Weidman Company. During
this time she studied composition with Weidman, Louis Horst, and Doris Humphrey. She was a principal dancer with the Charles
Weidman Company on three national and five East Coast tours. Gerrard performed with Hanya Holm and Weidman for a festival
at the New York City Center. She was also a principal dancer and soloist at festivals in Vermont, Massachusetts and New York.
In addition to her dance performances she served as the Assistant Choreographer and soloist with the New York City Opera in
performances of Aida, Traviata, and Love of Three Oranges. From 1945-1953, she frequently returned to Canada to serve as a
guest artist with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Gerrard taught the Graham Technique in New York from 1945 until 1950. From
1950-1953, she taught at the Humphrey-Weidman School.
In 1953, Gerrard moved to Los Angeles with her American pianist husband Aube Tzerko. While in Los Angeles, Gerrard taught
master classes and gave lectures, demonstrations, and workshops at USC, UCLA, the Idyllwild Arts Festival, Los Angeles City
College, the University of Judaism, and Pasadena City College, as well as a variety of other colleges and high schools throughout
Southern California. She also gave performances and lectures on Hebraic dance and modern dance with Jewish themes at many
of the Los Angeles area Jewish temples. From 1953-1960, Gerrard performed with the Saida Gerrard Theater Dance Company for
the Long Beach Symphony, the Idyllwild Arts Festival, Bovard Auditorium at USC Schoenberg Hall at UCLA and at the University
of Judaism in Los Angeles. She choreographed and performed the operas The Consul at USC, Secret of Suzanne at the University
of Judaism, and Hansel and Gretel for three consecutive years at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, CA.
In 1960, Gerrard began teaching at the University of Judaism in Los Angeles. She was the Director of the Saida Gerrard School
of Contemporary Dance, where she taught technique and choreography for adults, children, actors, and singers, from 1957-1970.
From 1960-1964, Gerrard toured the West Coast with her Saida Gerrard Theatre Dance Company and performed twenty-seven concerts
under the management of Columbia Artists. She choreographed and performed with a group of thirty dancers. Her company performed
New Exodus with symphony and choir at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium in Santa Monica, and at the Shrine Auditorium and
Wilshire-Ebell Theater in Los Angeles. She choreographed Don Giovanni in 1964, for the first season of the Los Angeles Opera,
which was then called the Los Angeles Civic Grand Opera, at the new Dorothy Chandler Pavilion. From 1965-1969, Gerrard continued
to perform and choreograph her works such as Marais and Miranda at the Morgan Theater in Santa Monica; Pimpinone at Royce
Hall, UCLA; and The Bartered Bride at the Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. In 1973, she staged two Los Angeles performances,
The Measure Taken by Bertolt Brecht at the Mark Taper Forum and The Golem at the Gindi Auditorium. The following year she
staged sixteen performances as the Director of Dance for Theater Arts Program of Los Angeles. In 1975, Gerrard received a
grant from the California Arts Commission, which she used to stage a performance of Ancestral Memories, music by Aaron Copland,
with the Theater Dance Company at the Gindi Auditorium in Los Angeles.
Gerrard began working in Aspen, Colorado in 1971. She taught, studied, danced, and staged performances there until 1977. She
choreographed contemporary opera and works by Mozart, Stravinsky, and resident composers; attended seminars at the Institute
for the Humanities; and conducted summer workshops for Colorado Mountain College. In 1971, Gerrard became the Director and
teacher of dance and choreography for the Aspen Music School and Opera. She would continue in this position until 1977.
In 1977, Gerrard again focused her work in the Los Angeles area. She taught dance and choreography at the University of Judaism,
where she also served as the Chairwoman of the Modern Dance Department, and at the Immaculate Heart College in Los Angeles
from 1977-1980. In 1980, she began teaching dance and choreography at Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles. She was also
the Founder, Director and Choreographer for the Saida Gerrard Heritage Dance Company, which performed at the Immaculate Heart
College, Temple Judea, University Synagogue, Temple Emmanuel, Stephen Wise Temple, and the Leo Baeck Temple, all of which
are located in Los Angeles. The Heritage Dance Company focused on works related to her Jewish heritage.
Saida Gerrard's commissions included choreographed oratorios for the New York Philharmonic Chorus and the Toronto Peoples
Chorus; Song of Miriam for the Detroit Folk Choir; New Exodus (Di Naye Hagode) for the Chicago Philharmonic Chorus and the
Los Angeles Philharmonic Choir; and a grant from the California Arts Commission to choreograph Ancestral Memories. She performed
as a soloist and principal dancer with the Toronto City Orchestra; Chicago Chamber Orchestra; Detroit Little Symphony Orchestra;
Detroit Folk Choirs; Carnegie Hall and Town Hall Concerts, New York; and the Charles Weidman Theatre Dance Company. Gerrard
served as the Director for the Carousel Dance Theatre for Children and the Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, III, Dance School; the
Saida Gerrard Heritage Dance Company; the Aspen Music School and Opera; and the Modern Dance Department at the University
of Judaism. She was the founder of the Sutro-Syler Dance Studio; the Carousel Theater; and the Heritage Dance Company. Her
performances included Death and Transfiguration (1935); Dance Suite-Songs of Unrest (1935); Sea Shanties (1937), set to music
composed by her husband, Aube Tzerko; and Die Naye Hagodah (1949), choreographed to Max Helfman's choral tone poem.
Saida Gerrard retired from dancing in 1989. Her husband Aube Tzerko passed away in September 1995. While in retirement Gerrard
continued to promote dance and the arts in education. She remained in Los Angeles until her death in 2005.
Arrangement
The first twenty-nine series are arranged alphabetically by dance title; the remaining nine series are arranged by format
and contain materials associated with more than one dance or those not identified with a specific dance.
Preferred Citation
[Identification of item], Saida Gerrard papers, Collection no. 0341, Special Collections, USC Libraries, University of Southern
California
Scope and Content
The collection consists of materials created, collected and used by Saida Gerrard during the course of her career as a dancer
and choreographer in Canada and in the United States. They consist of photographs, programs, audio and videotapes, scripts,
notebooks, slides, correspondence, scores, and ephemera-- chiefly organized by name of dance or performance when feasible.
Conditions Governing Use
All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Manuscripts Librarian.
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as the owner of the physical items and is not intended
to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained.
Conditions Governing Access
COLLECTION STORED OFF-SITE. Advance notice required for access.
Acquisition
The collection was donated by Saida Gerrard's niece, Lisa Gerrard, in 2007.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Carousel Dance Theatre for Children. -- Archives
Gerrard, Saida, 1913-2005 -- Archives
Helfman, Max -- Archives
Heritage Dance Company. -- Archives
Holm, Hanya, 1893-1992 -- Archives
Idyllwild Arts Foundation. -- Archives
Tzerko, Aube, 1907-1995 -- Archives
University of Judaism. -- Archives
Weidman, Charles -- Archives
Wigman, Mary, 1886-1973 -- Archives
Zemach, Benjamin -- Archives
Audiotapes
Choreographers--United States--20th century--Archival resources
Choreography--United States--20th century--Archival resources
Clippings
Correspondence
Costumes (character dress)
Dance cards
Dancers--United States--20th century--Archival resources
DVDs
Ephemera
Modern dance--California--Los Angeles--Archival resources
Modern dance--United States--20th century--Archival resources
Noteboooks
Photographs
Programs (documents)
Publications
Scores
Videotapes