Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2014 - 32

As a result of her somewhat sedentary job with the city,
Shirley became physically inactive and began to put on weight.
While a student at Brooklyn College she had been very active
with the fencing team and decided it was time to start moving
again. Shirley reflected, "I decided to take some dance classes with a friend of mine with a group called the New Dance
Group on 49th Street. [The New Dance Group, established
in 1932, was one of the first integrated arts organizations in
New York City, providing a home for dancers and musicians
of all colors as well as nationalities focusing on social issues
through movement.] I discovered I was pretty good at it and
had a good time down there, and I was there for a long time.
Some of the teachers were Donald McKayle, Mary Anthony,
and Sophie Maslow. Geoffrey Holder and Pearl Primus also
taught there. One of Mary Anthony's lead dancers started a
modern dance company of about seven, and I danced with
him." Shirley's classes met once a week. The dance fees were
very inexpensive, although she does not recall the amount.
What began as an outlet for weight loss turned into a passion
for dance.

The Lester Polakov Years
During this period in the 1960s, Shirley considered herself a
"serious amateur photographer," an interest she had developed
while at Brooklyn College. To improve her photography skills
she decided to take a lighting class at the 51st Street YWCA,
which also housed the Clark Center for the Performing Arts.
The Clark Center had been established in 1959 by Alvin Ailey
and a corps of mostly young black dancers and choreographers
to present their works in the city. But they had very little access
to rehearsal spaces until the YWCA agreed to house them. The
courses at the YWCA were free and met weekly during the evenings. At this point, theatre had not entered into the picture for
Shirley. In the same 1982 interview Shirley reminisced,
"I really didn't get interested in theatre; I got interested in lights
merely because I took this little course that I thought would
help me with photography. I knew what lighting could do for
dance because I was in a dance company. I just knew theatre
that way through dance. So it was really lighting first and then
theatre."
Her teachers were Nicola "Nick" Cernovich and Gary Harris. Cernovich was also the lighting designer for the young and
emerging Alvin Ailey American Dance Theatre, housed there
at the YWCA. As Cernovich's star pupil, Shirley would help him
set up lights for Ailey and other events. It was Cernovich who
discovered her talent for lighting and suggested she attend the
renowned Lester Polakov Studio and Forum of Stage Design. Established in 1958 by Broadway scenic designer Lester Polakov,
Polakov's, as it was called, provided professional design training
in lighting, scenery, and costume as well as stagecraft. The school
offered a three-year design certificate, a two-year theatre crafts
certificate, and a design associate certificate for the stage man-

theatre design

& technology

ager, director, and teacher. Prior to the plethora of MFA design
programs that sprang up during the 1980s, many professional
designers came through the doors of Polakov's.
One of the prerequisites for Polakov was drafting. As Shirley had no prior experience in technical theatre or any form of
drafting, she took a home course through La Salle University
to enter Polakov's. She fondly remembers taking the class because La Salle provided a free drafting table that would later
prove essential. Shirley also did not have to take the complete
course but was allowed to focus on the fundamentals. She took
the lighting class at Polakov's on Saturdays for several hours so
she could continue her full-time job during the week with the
Health Department.
In the same 1982 interview Shirley stated, "I went to Polakov and met so many great people. Tom Skelton [designer
for numerous Broadway productions and dance] was one of
my teachers, along with Peggy Clark [one of the first women
to achieve professional success on Broadway]. Tom was also
the lighting designer for the small companies I danced with
including Cyril Peters and another company. Lester Polakov
was teaching set design so I never studied with him personally. This was in the mid-1960s. Ken Billington was in my class,
Patrika Brown, Tony Quintavalla, Marshall Williams, and David
Segal-about ten of us. We had a great time! The classes were
on Saturdays, and they provided all the theory. We also learned
how to create plots, sections, the planning, really the basics of
doing a light plot. We were in a studio located on West Street
in the Village. It was this studio where Tom had us present our
practical projects as well as submit drafting projects."
Recently, Shirley recalled more of her memorable time at
Polakov's: "I was there about two years. I don't remember how
expensive it was, but you had to provide all of your supplies
and equipment. I learned so much! We were like friends as everybody helped everybody out. I remember the
first time Peggy Clark gave us a floor plan and
I didn't know what I was doing. What I really In her
learned was that I liked it, and Peggy used to
do the Jones Beach Outdoor Summer Theatre characteristically
and Ken Billington would drive her out there
understated way,
and I'd join them. I remember returning home
at 2:00 and 3:00 in the morning, getting up Shirley says, "After
going to work. Also, Marshall Williams [Marshall was one of the few professional African seeing Tharon
American lighting designers working in New
York City] was the summer lighting designer Musser work, I
for the Tappan Zee Playhouse, and I would also
assist him on weekends and return in time for decided, well that's
work on Monday. I did everything that anyone
asked me to do as I was still taking classes and very nice. I think
learning."
I would like to do
While in Mary Anthony's dance class,
some of the members did small shows where
that."
Shirley volunteered and tried out her new

summer

2014

Theatre Design & Technology - Summer 2014

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