AADL Talks To: Peter Sparling, Lecturer, Poet, Essayist, Dancer, and Filmmaker

Fri, 08/09/2024 - 10:00am

In this episode, AADL Talks To Peter Sparling. Peter is a lecturer, poet, essayist, dancer, and filmmaker. He is the Rudolf Arnheim Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Dance at the University of Michigan. Peter talks with us about his career, from his start as a member of the José Limón Dance Company and principal dancer with Martha Graham Dance Company through his time in Ann Arbor as director of his own Peter Sparling Dance Company. Peter talks about his activism, the changes in the Ann Arbor dance community over the years, and his current work after retiring from the university 6 years ago.

Legacies Project Oral History: David Griffis

Wed, 01/15/2020 - 9:50am

David Griffis has lived in Detroit for his entire life except for two years of service in the military, when he went to Korea. He worked as a Personnel Technician for the Michigan Employment Security Commission and for Chrysler’s personnel department. He received a degree in business administration from Wayne State University, and went on to run two nursing home facilities in Detroit for over fifteen years. He has two daughters, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

David Griffis was interviewed in partnership with the Museum of African American History of Detroit and Y Arts Detroit in 2010 as part of the Legacies Project.