Marcus explores music and culture
Campus Times
May 21, 2004
The Journal of the West recently accepted an article by Kenneth Marcus,
assistant professor of history at ULV, titled "A New Expression for New
People: Race and Ballet in Los Angeles" to be published in Spring 2005.
As a student Marcus spent time studying in Germany. He loves art and plays the
piano.
Kenneth Marcus is not only an assistant professor of history at the University
of La Verne, he is also a composer, musician and writer of articles, publications
and recordings.
“I love music, piano, guitar and singing,” Marcus said. “It’s
hard to imagine anyone who does not have music in their life.”
For that same reason, Marcus finds ways to incorporate what he loves most,
music, writing and history, into his work.
One of his recent accomplishments is the completion of his article “A
New Expression for a New People: Race and Ballet in Los Angeles, 1945-56,”
which Marcus said took from six months to a year to write.
The article will be published in the Journal of the West, a journal that focuses
on different themes of Western history from Kansas through California, in Spring
2005.
Marcus’ article discusses the First Negro Classic Ballet school. The
school was founded in 1946 by Joseph Rickard in Los Angeles.
Rickard, a caucasian dance student, decided to start a dance school after witnessing
an African-American girl being turned away from ballet school.
The article traces the First Negro Classic Ballet’s journey as an ethnically
diverse dancing school, their artistic contribution to the African American
community in Los Angeles, the social change and the survival of the company
in turbulent times.
Marcus stumbled upon the history of the dance school through Sue Hodson, curator
of manuscripts at the Huntington Library. He received a fellowship at Huntington
and found a lot of articles, photos, audiotapes and film of the dance school.
“Many people ask if there is culture in Los Angeles,” Marcus said.
“The answer is yes, but not much is written about it.”
Through his writings, Marcus attempts to place music in cultural and historical
content.
“There is another part to life, the cultural and artistic aspect,”
Marcus said. “History is about people, and music is what people enjoy.”
One of the things that Marcus enjoyed about his article was the opportunity
it gave him to interview the people. He said he was able to talk to two or three
dancers.
“I got to know what it was like to dance in L.A. in the 40s and 50s,”
Marcus said.
Marcus is in the process of completing his book, “Musical Metropolis:
Los Angeles and the Creation of Music Culture, 1880-1940.”
His writing does not stop there.
He also creates pieces for piano and guitar, which vary from jazz to classical.
He has also written some folk, country and rock music.
“I started composing music at around age 16, and started the guitar when
I was 17,” Marcus said.
He participated in the recordings of “Colorado Boulevard,” “Some
American Music,” “The Choir of Saint Anthony and “American Rhythms.”
In the CD “Some American Music” he played the piano, guitar and
sang works by different people.
Most of the songs on the CD were written in specific styles, such as jazz,
Latin and Rock ‘n’ Roll, Marcus said.
He recorded “Colorado Boulevard” with his blues band, Crown City
Trio, which has guitar, vocals, harmonica and bass.
There are two things that Marcus hopes to accomplish in his writing and knowledge
of the cultural history of America.
“I want to bring out the amazing richness of music and culture in the
Los Angeles area,” Marcus said.
“Music is a part of the history of this country,” Marcus said. “It
is a part of the culture and history of Los Angeles.”
