Ted shawn dance biography examples

Ted Shawn (1891-1972), well known for his pioneering efforts in American modern dance, began dancing as a means of physical therapy. In his third year of studying for the ministry at the University of Denver, he contracted a case of diphtheria, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. While he was nursing himself back to health, he realized that dancing would become his life-time career.

Shawn's first teacher was Hazel Wallack in Denver, with whom he studied ballet and ballroom exhibition dancing. At the same time he worked independently and began to perform his own choreographic works. In 1912 Shawn moved to Los Angeles, where he established a school and small performing company. The following year he and his dancing partner, Norma Gould, embarked with their company of Interpretive Dancers upon a cross-country tour and reached New York after nineteen performances.

While in New York Shawn arranged his first meeting with Ruth St. Denis. He had seen her perform in Denver and was convinced that they should work together. During their first meeting they discussed their artistic ideas and ambitions, and Shawn returned the next day to demonstrate his dancing. He was then hired by Miss St. Denis' brother and manager to be her partner. On

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Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances

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A Dance Pioneer Finally Gets His Due

Ted Shawn, often called the “Father of American Dance,” was so sure about his place in cultural history that before his death in 1972, he drafted a letter to future biographers listing what topics should be written about him and the order in which they should be written. But none of those books ever came. Until now.

In Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances (Oxford University Press, $39.95), Paul A. Scolieri ’95, chair and professor of dance at Barnard, offers the first scholarly account of Shawn’s pioneering role in American modern dance and reveals the untold story of Shawn’s homosexuality, his choreographic vision and his impact on society.

Between 1915 and 1940, Shawn transformed dance from popular entertainment into a theatrical art, and in the process, made dancing an acceptable profession for men. With his wife and dance partner, Ruth St. Denis, he founded Denishawn, the first modern dance company and school in the United States. (Martha Graham was a protégée, and went on to become a legendary dancer and choreographer in her own right.) Shawn directed the first all-male dance company, Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers, and was also the founder of Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival, the internationally known performance venue and s