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Ruth St. Denis, 1879-1968
Born Newark, New Jersey
Along with Loie Fuller and Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis created a theatrical and spiritual basis for modern American dance. She was discovered in 1898 by Broadway producer David Belasco when she was a "skirt dancer" in vaudeville, and joined his company as a featured dancer. Touring the world with Belasco, she became intrigued by Eastern philosophy and began forging ideas about using dance and melodrama to express a kind of mystical spirituality.
In 1906 she caused a sensation by performing a solo dance based on Hindu mythology: her exotic barefoot dance Rhada dazzled society matrons and launched her to fame. Subsequent national tours established her as a pioneer of the emerging modern dance movement.
From 1915 to 1929, she organized and ran the Denishawn School with Ted Shawn; the school was recognized as an important training ground for such key dancers as Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey.
Hegeman Print, after Soichi Sunami, c 1930 |