The Rolf Institute has in its possession audio tapes (cassettes) of Dr. Rolf lecturing and teaching in the 1970’s. These tapes are old but still in relatively good condition. Some of the tape sets have various tapes missing. Beginning in October, 2001, I undertook to transfer these recordings tc digital media both for preservation and to make them readily available to the membership. These tapes were digitized using a Macintosh 8500; this computer has builtin audio capabilities and is used by many of the tape transfer companies. Files were digitized to the AIFF (audio interchange format), and then the resulting AIFF files were converted to the more compact Mp3 format. What follows is an inventory of the contents of this digital archive as of June 1, 2002.

Since these tapes do not appear to have been done professionally (mic gain varies, and mic position is often favorable for coughs and sneezes, drowning out the main speaker) or maintained (many sets have missing or broken tapes), the quality varies widely. AIFF files are high quality and should allow for future digital manipulation if necessary.

In the 1970’s, advanced classes were taught as a review of the Ten Series followed by the advanced piece. All the recordings of advanced trainings include IPR’s lectures on the Ten Series.

Most of these tapes were created informally and give one a real “sense” of Ida Rolf the person. Classroom discussion is interspersed with Dr. Rolf discussing many different things. Her genuine affection for (and sometimes exasperation with) her students comes through.

SERIES FROM CLASSES:

1975 Santa Monica
This series is the best of the bunch. It is larg( (40+ tapes) and appears to be complete anc of excellent quality. Participants in thi., training include Jan Sultan and Jim Ashei (?).

1976 Advanced (Boulder)
This series is fair in quality and has a number of gaps in the tape sequence. This is the class that the “Boy Logan” videotape series comes from.

Structural Integration and the Open Universe (1974)
The UCLA class includes lectures by IPR (opening and closing) Werner Erhard on the “The Mind” and Ethel Longstreet discussing General Semantics and the Epistemological Profile.

Teacher’s Class
Various teachers performing for IPR. Includes Emmett Hutchins, Peter Melchior, Jan Sultan, Michael Salveson, Jim Asher, and others.

1973 Big Sur
Very low quality (high mic gain on the original recording. Tapes are labeled “1973.” This is the class from which Ida Rolf Talks was transcribed. There are some missing tapes.

1973 Advanced (partial)
Appears to be a different advanced class than the 1973 Big Sur mentioned above. Unfortunately only tapes 1, 11, 31, and a lecture with AI Drucker were found.

1972 “Mystery” Class
This set was labeled very minimally (only sequential numbers starting at 10 and running to 24 [23 missing]). There is no indication whether this was a basic or advanced class. Fair sound quality.

1971 “Mystery” Class
Another minimally labeled series. Only the first four tapes were found. Fair quality.

MISCELLANEOUS:

Psychology Today Interview
The raw interview tape which resulted in the interview for Psychology Today.

IPR Concerning History of the Vital Principle and First Hour
Rolf lectures on the historical background of the vital principle.

Introduction to Convention -Mill Valley
Appears to be the introduction to the 1976 annual meeting.

Structural Integration – Ida Rolf
Tape was simply labeled “Structural Integration – Ida Rolf “. IPR lecturing on Structural Integration.

Tape 8
Simply labeled “Tape 8,” (no dates or additional information) this tape contains IPR lecturing to a class.

Along with this collection there is an unknown number of other tapes in private hands as well as the video and film archive at Pacific Archives in North Hollywood, California. We are currently moving forward with the transfer and re-mastering of the film and video stored there and hope to have this project completed within the next year. Anyone wishing to add to the audiotape archive with contributions from a private collection (reel-to-reel or cassette are welcome!) please contact the Rolf Institute for details.