WALTER GUTMAN
He and she saw eve to eye.
Express and oeal passing by
That's still my problem-her in her clothes. She did it by screeching as she swung from
express and my local are still standing on the diving board limb to limb and landed among
passing by. I realize that poetry facing the audience and jumping the cocktail guests. But as you
and prose have pro gressed up and down on its tip until she know, the trees on the dunes are
Substantially since the subway fell off. I believe that if she were very short, and this possibilityopportunity. I probably will
ride of my great inspiration and on the Olympic program she didn't occur to either of us at
also, of course, it is uncertain would have the all time Olympic the time, so we just became always thinking of odes to
which is which-whether a poem championship for jumping up friends. The book was never legand here I should mention
is a picture or a picture a poem.
or a piece of concrete a
a poem a piece of concrete
Jill suggested that I take a
theme, like "How 1 am not school-or at least that nobody
strong enough-meaning Jill-for would argue with her.
me, ete." Well, I am not sure
that this is a fascinating theme odious poet, how Jill first came
for the devotees of Jill Johnston. into my ken, or hove above the
who certainly think she is strong horizon. It was in Wellneet
enough. But then, thes don't
know what she and I mean by overlooking the sea and where I
that. 's like beef Stroganoffwas trying to write a book, alsowhy he really likes women, nor
Did the Russians really invent
that, or is it Irish stew Well.
beef St isnot strong Sheinds Tokayer told me about
enough for me either, and I like
Jill Johnston better than beef
Stroganoff. even if she isn't ato stay. So she hove above the my dream woman-who Jill said
muscle moll.
Jill claims she was a very
celebration quite a few wentreally like to se that long hair Modern wrote me and said I had
swimming. Jill went swimming nowing and hear that sereech
an opportunity to become a
patron if I wanted-and, in fact,
the Merce Cunningham
Foundation has written me and
given me a similar patronizang
take this one up, because I am
and down on a diving board. Thepablished.
the behind of Laura de Freitas
Laura danced with June Ekman
poem or abandon with which she did this.
I don't know why to me the
makes me feel that she probablymuscle moll is the
was a very good athlete in
and Sally Gross at the
Woodstock performance of
Elaine Summers' group, after
which Jill fell off the diving
I suppose I should say, as an for seven hours on the night board. Laura attempted to
supreme
form of the moll-I tried to
explain this to Joe Gelis of
Newsday, who interviewed me
before Christmas, by telling himintroduce a variation into the
that I had spent ten yearrs under
t wo analysts and still didn'tthe dance should be based on
know why. But then it occurred
to me later that no man knows.
general dance cept, which is that
where I had a house on a bluff
some dynamic force coming
from some fragment of the
feet like a oe or both feet, by
falling on her behind. As I
watched her deliberately fal
backward on her behind-not
once but several times, 1 could
Provincetown and had no place of charm-is a very powerful not help but feel that here was
a half dozen years ago, I felt Ido women know why they like
needed editorial assistance, and
men. It's just something that
occurs. But at any rate, the
female force-let's say the force
Jill, who had just arrived in
force-in fact,, overwhelmi-
ng and nature does develop a
small percentage of women who
horizon and staved at that place
I should write about. You have
to have a powerful behind in
order to make falling on it a
deliberately important part of a
highly intellectual dance
concept, and Laura-a brautiful
and powerful-but feminine and
Welneet and ate the brownies
i
good athlete in school, and made by my fourteen-year old,express this force with clear
claim I was a very bad athlete. four-foot-nine-inch maid This
My claim, 1 think could be more maid was the ideal Lolita for me
heavily documented than hers,
visual brutality. I didn't invent
this expression. I got hooked by
since she bicyeled two miles it
but hers may be valid uphill every morning, and you
nonetheless. The only athletie can imagine what sort of legs she expresses this force by her talent seductive as well as intellectual
action I ever saw r take was at had. Well, between my possableas a writer, by her sudden woman-had it Her effort to
least a half dozen years ago, Lolita and my editor, evervthing
following a dance concert at
Woodstock after which we went the road back to Provincetown.
to some joint of nightly Jill, as you know, prefers
recreation. Well. joint is not women, a nd while I prefer to discuss her writing, which is,falling on their behinds had
actually the right deseription for
the physical charm of this place, standards in certain ways, such
which was physically charming. as twenty well done pushups
but is not a bad description of before breakfast and Tarzana
its psychology. There was a from the trees at cocktails.
swimming pool, and after athink Jill could probably be
number of hours of jointly Tarzana from the trees-I'd
But obviously, Jill also
perceptions. by her intimacy-s bring behinds into the dance did
that's why we are all writingnot succeed beyond this concert.
these odes to her. I don't know
how many ode-makers are going
was swinging in Wellfleet and on
is why
a m
That
ick commemorating it here. It
women also, I have very strict after all, why she is Jill Johnston become as common-anywhere
near that is-as standing, walking
or toeing in their feet, Laura
to so many people. I knew her
Drst when she was a dance critic.
and as we'd all agree, she playedwould long ago have been
a very creative part in sponsoringrecognized as one of the
and explaining the exeiting powerfully original minds of the
dance develo pments of the
1960's. I miss her dance reviewsworld-even the most avant
because they were more than carde-still has certain set ideas.
reviews. On the other hand, were
I a dancer, I might be glad that
Deborah Jowett was doing itot
now because I might be a minor
talent. Jill is really only
interested in majorl
talents-talents in some
form-like laying a mile-longnow as I write about it.
strip of red plastic on a street to
cover the black asphalt, which is Jill by digressing to Laura, but
a form of plastic too, actually. I then Jill claims that she got
really like red vinyl in a
maxicoat better, and I think
there are moments of charm in
dance world. But the dance
There are parts of the body
which convey the soul and
others which upset the soul and
the behind-a very great behind,
that is-is still considered to
belong to these. My soul was
upset by Laura, and it tingles
Well, 1 am sort of imitating
some stylistic ideas from the
way I wrote when she was doing
some editing for me. Actually
minor talents which balaney there are a number of
more than they get recognition resemblances between Jill and
for, the moments of bathos in
major talents. I don't admire liked the most that I know were
Deborah Jowett's writing as I do
Jill's, but I think a salute should
be given to her now because she
is pretty near the only villagethe bigger view for her telescope
voice left in the Village Voice.
The thing is that it's not what
Jill writes about that is so
important as that she really is a
writer.Sometimes what she writes
about is actually important-but
then, Marcel Proust's family and
their friends weren't innately
important. They probably were
dreadfully pretentious bores for
the most part-like you can meet
any time among the Friends of
the Whitney Museum or the
me. The two women that she
actually pretty strong women.
We each have our Mt. Palomar
inside ourselves. Jill discovered
when she went to Bellevue. The
bigger view was developing
before-she was becoming less
interested in the dance
wórld-but it seems to have
become much bigger during her
stay in Bellevue. Her writing
now has the astronomer's
excitement over every little star
she sees. But it takes a writer to
make any star the telescope sees
interesting to non-astrondmers,
and that 's what Jill does.
l Jehnston Sheindhi, Ann and their children Photo By Les Levine
