“An Interview with Gladys Bailin” accepted at American Dance Festival, showcases student work

At Ohio University Libraries, it takes many individuals and groups to make the Libraries the best that it can be. Within those departments, many workers include OHIO students who on top of their studies, balance a part-time job too. Their positions add another layer to their college experience and sometimes also leaves a long-lasting impact on University Libraries.

In 2019, the Gladys Bailin Oral History project began, including Tresa Randall and Teresa Holland from the School of Dance; Andie Walla from the School of Media Arts and Carla Williams, lorraine wochna and Kate Mason from University  Libraries, to promote Gladys Bailin Stern, director emerita and distinguished professor in the School of Dance at Ohio University. The goal of the project was to capture Bailin’s oral history, produce a documentary film about her life and achievements and eventually publish a book from the over eight hours of audio recordings.

The documentary, which later became titled, “An Interview with Gladys Bailin,” was submitted to many events, and now, has been accepted to be screened at the American Dance Festival Movies by Movers.

The project took many people to make the vision happen, and specifically, two student employees in the Libraries’ dean’s office who played an important role in getting the film version to the place it is today. Billy Schuerman was the graduate assistant in photography at the time, who focused his year working at the Libraries on making the documentary come to life.

Schuerman came to OHIO for graduate school to grow and learn more as a photographer. The summer before he had gotten to Athens, Schuerman had been contacted by Mason, coordinator of communications and assistant to the dean, about his assistantship and learned that she had selected his specific portfolio at the time because of his work with video as an undergraduate that had a similar style to what was desired for the Bailin project.

Schuerman mentioned in an interview that he would comb through archival photos, put together audio clips, cut them up for smoothness and coherency for the storyline to work well and help oversee the overall product.

“We [the oral history committee] were able to put together something that I really worked on to tell the story of what was going on [with] Gladys Bailin and her time at OHIO and growing up,” Schuerman said. “It feels pretty comprehensive.”

Brooke Stanley was the other graduate student working in the dean’s office at the time. As the graphic design assistant, Stanley worked alongside Schuerman and others for the Bailin documentary. Schuerman mentioned that Stanley was immensely talented and watching her work made him want to work even harder.

“I think Brooke was fantastic,” Schuerman said. “I mean her graphic designs are phenomenal. I was just so impressed with what she would do and what she would put together for the video, even outside of the video, just things she would do for the Library. I was always very impressed by her ability.”

Because of the amount of collaboration needed for the project, Schuerman mentioned how his experience creating the documentary with others helped him learn and grow within his professional career, as everyone is on the same page for what the end goal is. He also discussed that his technical skills with videography improved as he worked on it every day and his work sharpened and grew with the project.

“Being at the Library was huge for my growth as a journalist,” Schuerman said.

After interning with the Virginian-Pilot in Norfolk, Va. after his first year in graduate school, he was offered a full-time position, and despite moving on from OHIO, Schuerman’s work continues to be acknowledged and promoted.

The documentary, “An Interview with Gladys Bailin,” was submitted to the American Dance Festival, which is a historically significant modern dance institution and one of the most important sites in the U.S. for the presentation of innovative dance work today.

With the prestige of the festival bringing many serious directors and photographers to submit their work, Schuerman felt honored to have the project accepted and have the work shown and that it seemed like a testament to how much effort was put into the film. He mentioned that he was astounded that the film was still finding opportunities to be promoted due to the continuous support and pushing from Mason.

As a member of the Bailin Oral History collaboration process, Randall, associate professor of Dance History, wrote in an email that it was gratifying to work with a team of people dedicated to sharing the story of Bailin's career and decades-long contributions to dance and the arts at OHIO.

“All of us had seen Gladys’ effervescent presence in person, and we wanted to capture it on film,” Randall wrote. “Kate [Mason] was our organizer extraordinaire and brought together an enthusiastic group of collaborators.”

Randall mentioned that as an original company member in the Alwin Nikolais Dance Theater, as well as a soloist in her own work, Bailin was a major figure in the development of modern dance in the mid-20th century. The film showcases how Bailin brought experimental modern approaches to OHIO, where they permeated the School of Dance for decades. Footage includes dance students at OHIO too, showcasing choreography and the impact of Bailin’s work still being seen today.

Randall also mentioned that the School of Dance is excited to be part of an excellent lineup of dance films by nationally recognized choreographers and filmmakers, and that it was an honor to be selected for the event, which will bring the legacy of Bailin and OHIO’s School of Dance to people across the country.

“I hope people will be inspired by Gladys’ example,” Randall wrote. “Even after many decades, she is still dedicated, incisive and fearlessly creative. She models the life of a curious and devoted artist-teacher, and I hope the film shows the deep impact that she has had.”

Overall, the legacy of Bailin has been able to live on through the endless work from both inside and outside of the Libraries and her recognition is far from being over. Although time may progress, the impacts left by those at University Libraries and OHIO continue to live on.

“You go on in your own little world, and I've worked on so many other projects and things all over, but Kate [Mason] has been really fantastic about putting this [documentary] into contests and film festivals and stuff all over the place, so that it really is seen,” Schuerman said. “I hope a lot of people get an opportunity to learn about Gladys Bailin and not only her repertoire of what she's done in the past, but maybe they can find some of the legacy that she's left, not only on the OHIO program but in dance in general.”