J. Phillips/Dance/2011-12
Table of Dance History Pioneers from the 1800s to…21 st Century
Name
Birth/Death etc.
Dance Family
Tree/Attributes
Founder-teacher of the
François Delsarte 1811 – 1871
Solesmes, Nord,
Delsarte System of
Musician &
France
Expression-Voice,
Movement Analyst
breath, movement
dynamics
encompassing all the
expressive elements of
the body.
1862-1928
Self-taught dancer. 1st
B:
Chicago
Acclaimed
Loie Fuller
D: Paris
Choreographic work –
Special Effects &
1891, “Serpentine
Dance Copyright
Dance”, U.S.A. Long
pieces of fabric in
shapes of butterflies &
flowers. Acclaimed in
Paris in 1892 for
“Papillon”
Loie Fuller graced
poster images from her
dancing at the Folies
Bergères in Paris.
B:1873,Toronto,ON No previous training in
Maud Allan
D:1956,LosAngeles dance. Early studies in
Tragic fact: Maud
piano and theatre.
Allan’s brother
France: Dancer with the
executed in San
Loie Fuller Dance Co.
Francisco for the
murder of two
young women.
Natural Dance-Isadora
1877 – 1927
Duncan’s legacy. Unrestricted
B: San Francisco,
Isadora Duncan
costumes, utilization of
California
emotional expression were
Fact: Reinvented her
D: Nice, France
encouraged in schools in
life as a n artist and
broke convention in
her time of Victorian
culture as dancer,
teacher,
choreographer and
traveled the world.
Rudolf Laban
Fact:
Mary Wigman, one
of his pupils and one
of the originators of
the modern dance in
central Europe, based
much of her dramatic
choreography on a
relationship between
individual and space
similar to the one
Laban postulated in
choreutics. Sigurd
Leeder and Kurt
Jooss, also pupils,
further developed
and made extensive
use of eukinetics in
their teaching and
choreography.
Ruth St. Denis
Europe and Russia.
In NYC 1977: Jeanne
Bresciani serves as director
of the Isadora Duncan
International Institute
www.isadoraduncan.net
Isadora Duncan is often
recognized as one of the first
modern choreographers for
studying images from Greek
vases and linking into dance
phrases.
1879 – 1958
B: Hungary
D: Surrey, England
1877 – 1968
B: Newark N.J.
U.S.A


Dance Theory
Laban
Notation
 Movement
Choirs
1915 – Zurich:
Laban established
the Choreographic
Institute.1927
published
Kinetographie
Laban – a dance
notation system
called
Labanotation,
Founder: Denishawn
Co. & School - 1915
Martha Graham, Doris
Great Contributions to Dance
Influenced Isadora Duncan Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn,
Rudolf Laban & Mattias Alexander & mime artists,
Marcel Marceau & Lecoq.
Observed real people in real life situations. Analysed &
examined patterns of voice, breath, movement dynamics.
“Danse de Feu” – 1895
Fuller designed and patented all her costumes and
lighting effects and experimented with phosphorescent
paint that shone in the dark.
Inventor and stage craft innovator. Respected by the
French scientific society and friend of Marie Curie.
Famous for “Vision of Salomé” solo.
Allan’s unique solos and presentations toured in Europe,
Soviet Union, South America, South Africa.
Through her pain and suffering her art revealed its own
unique qualities.
www.dcd.ca
Duncan Legacy: Third generation Duncan dancer Lori Belilove whose
direct lineage and prestigious performing career have earned her an
international reputation as the premier interpreter and ambassador of
the dance of Isadora Duncan.
In NYC 1979: Lori Belilove serves as Artistic Director of the
Isadora Duncan Dance Foundation established and thrives today.
www.isadoraduncan.org
Laban was born in Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire
into an aristocratic family. His father’s family came from
French nobility. His mother was English. At age 30 after
studying sculpture he concentrated on dance –
Ausdruckstanz or the movement/expressive arts. Author
of: Modern Educational Dance. He was greatly assisted in his
dance teaching during these years by his close associate and
long-term partner Lisa Ullman. 1946 London: Their
collaboration led to the founding of the Laban Centre, now
called Trinity Laban:
www.trinitylaban.ac.uk/Laban
Ruth inspired in the ‘20s by dance and drama of Asian &
South Asian cultures from the Goddess Isis to India’s
Radha.
Ted Shawn
D: Los Angeles
Calif..
Humphrey, Charles
Weidman were students
and members of this
ground-breaking
company.
Training: Francois
Delsarte, Vaudeville
“skirt”dancer in 1892.
1938: Founder dance
program Adelphi U.
NY
1947 formed ‘Church of the divine Dance, Hollywood.
Denishawn Co. was one of the first companies to tour
the world.
1891 – 1972
B: Kansas City, MO
D: Orlando, Florida
1915 - Founder:
Denishawn Co. &
School
Early years included Greek, heroic, exotic, ceremonial
dance. He choreographed for film: Hollywood
spectacles. After Ted Shawn’s split from wife Ruth he
formed an all male dance company which included
works: “Kinetic Molpai”
Denishawn Co. was one of the first companies to tour
the world. He continued dancing into the 1960s.
1933 - Founder:
Jacob’s Pillow Dance
Festival & Professional
Program, Beckett,
Mass.
Fact: ‘College Years’
Paralyzed for a year
from diphtheria he
used dance as a therapy
to gain feeling and
strength which lead Ted
Shawn to a career of
dance.
Hanya Holm
Educated by:
Mary Wigman
Doris Humphrey
1893 – 1992
B: Germany
D: NYC
B: 1895,Oak Park,
Illinois
D: 1958, NYC
Fact:
1. Teacher,
choreographer and
mentor to:
José Limǒn.
2. “Fall &
Recovery”
Humphrey’s dance
philosophy was
based upon breath,
suspension and the
two poles between
falling into gravity
and rising,
recovering up into
air and space.
Martha Graham
“Leader in
Innovation, Creation
– Pushed the limit
and changed the way
we look at dance
today.”
Mother of modern
dance premiered 177
1894 – 1991
B: Allegheny, Pa.,
D: NYC.
Wigman sent Hanya Holm
to the United States to
open a
Wigman School-New
York City.
1936 – 1967 - she changed
the Wigman school to her
own name: Hanya Holm
School just before WWII
due to political issues.
Doris’ mother a trained
concert pianist.
Studied folk and
interpretive dance and
accompanied her
mother on piano
concert tours
Trained from her
elementary school
teacher: Mary Wood
Hinman and in 1917
with the advice of
Hinman took a summer
course with Ruth St.
Denis & Ted Shawn.
Humphrey at age 18
opened her own dance
school for children &
adults.
Upon her move to Los
Angeles, Graham studied
with Ruth St. Denis and
Ted Shawn – Denishawn
Dance School.
1920’s Toured with
Denishawn Dance Co.
1948 Married dancer Erick
Hawkins, whom later
Trained in Germany studying Dalcroze technique and
Laban/Wigman technique.
Holm used Laban notation to copyright her dance works.
NYC: A choreographer for musicals: Kiss Me Kate & My
Fair Lady.
Doris Humphrey famous for her solo roles with
Denishawn Dance Co. a scarf dance called “Valse
Caprice”
1928: Humphrey/Weidman Dance Theatre presenting“Modern Dance” with fellow dancer/choreographer
Charles Weidman.
Noted works:
My Red Fires, The Shakers.
At the age of 51, Humphrey suffered from arthritis and
when retired from her own company she was appointed
teacher, choreographer and artistic director for José
Limǒn Dance Co.
1930’s: founded the Dance Repertory Theatre in NYC and later
the Martha Graham School for Contemporary Dance.
Her choreographic work is rooted in a wide range of material,
including Greek mythology, American literature, poetry, the
Bible and historical legend. Presently: The Martha Graham
Dance Co. and Professional Training School draw 200 – 300
students and professionals per year.
Learn more…. The Martha Graham Dance Company
www.marthagraham.org
works.
Best known works:
Appalacian Spring,
Letter to the World,
Seraphic Dialogue
Pearl Lang
separated, yet both
became
director/choreographers of
their own dance
companies.
The Martha Graham
Dance Company has
garnered awards and
toured the world as an
ambassador for modern
dance.
1921 – 2009
B: Chicago, Ill.
D: NYC
1941 joined the Martha
Graham Dance Co.
She created lead roles in
several of Graham’s works
in – Woman in Red“Diversion of Angels”1948.
Graham was inspired by
Lang’s tilts in Diversion
of Angels.
Ms Lang taught at Yale, the Juilliard School and taught
Technique and composition at the Martha Graham School of
Contemporary Dance.
Among her students were: Madonna and Pina Bausch.
LEARN MORE…
PEARL LANG:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=ju7oef9FvoI
www.nytimes.com/2009/02/27/arts/dance/27lang.html
www.myspace.com/marthagrahamschool/blog/473488581
In later years Ms Lang
took over Graham’s own
roles in such works as
Appalachian Spring,
Letter to the World, El
Penitente.
Lang's solution to human
dilemmas was to make art.
She founded her company,
Pearl Lang Dance
Theater, in 1952, for
which she choreographed
63 works. Many of them
reflected her Jewish
heritage, such as Shirah,
based on a Hasidic story
of rebirth, and The
Possessed, based on S.
Ansky's Yiddish play The
Dybbuk.
José Limón
Best Known Works:
1. The Moor’s
Pavane
1908 – 1972
B: Culiacan,
Sinaloa, Mexico
D: NYC, U.S.A.
Prostate Cancer
2.There is a Time
3.Choreographic
Offering
4.Missa Brevis
5.Dances for Isadora
6. Psalm
Alwin Nikolais
Nikolais redefined
dance, as "the art of
motion which, left on
its own merits,
1910 – 1993
B: Connecticut
D: He died May 8,
1993, and is buried
in Père Lachaise
Bright, artistic &
athletic in high school
in Los Angeles. 1925:
Upon entering
university he was
forced to quit and
become caregiver for
his many brothers and
sisters upon the death of
his mother who died in
childbirth.
In 1928 he arrived in
NYC to study painting
at New York School of
Design.
1929: Limón switched
career aspirations when
inspired by a New York
performance of German
Expressionist dancer
Harald Kreutzberg of
Mary Wigman Dance
Co.
Training: 1929-Doris Humphrey- Charles Weidman,
NYC.
1932: Regular member Humphrey/Weidman Co.
1937 - Bennington College Fellowship Award to create
his own choreographic work.
From 1939 - 1945 served in the World War 11 as truck
driver and then performer.
1945 - NYC founder of Jose Limon Dance Co. Doris
Humphrey acted as Artistic Director for Jose Limon’s
Dance Co.
Inspired by a
performance of German
dancer, Mary Wigman
touring in NYC.
Training: Bennington
Among his best known performances are "Masks, Props,
and Mobiles" (1953), "Totem" (1960), and "Count
Down" (1979).
He received the City of Paris' highest honor, the Grande
Medaille de Vermeille de la Ville de Paris as well as
Learn more: www.limon.org
becomes the message
as well as the
medium"
cemetery in Paris.
Fact: “Often referred
to as the American
Patriarch of French
modern dance.”
Alvin Ailey
“Cultural
Ambassador to
the World”
1931- 1989
B: Texas
D: NYC
Fact: Stellar school
and professional
training program
and exquisite
edifice in NYC.
Leonard Gibson
Fact:
1947: Leonard
Gibson travelled to
NYC to dance for
American
choreographer/dancer
Katherine Dunham.
He successfully
became a recipient of
a scholarship to
attend the Katherine
Dunham School in
New York.
David Earle
Fact:
Early Training:
Toronto Children’s
Players from 8 to 19:
Eaton Auditorium, 4
times a year.
Scholarship student:
National Ballet SchoolIntroduced to
eurhythmics &Laban
technique from Donald
Himes.
1926 – 2008
B: Vancouver
D: Vancouver
College (Graham
Humphrey, Hanya
Holm)
1948 Nikolais Dance
Theatre formed from
Playhouse Dance
Company.
Company debut: 1968 Paris -Théâtre de
Champs-Élysées
1950-53 danced in The
Lester Horton Dance
Company in Los
Angeles.
After Horton’s death,
Ailey served as artistic
director for a year.
1954: he moved to New
York to perform in two
Broadway musicals.
1958: formed his own
company, the Alvin
Ailey American Dance
Theater – NYC.,
which is thriving today.
medals from Seville, Greece, and 30 other cities both
foreign and national as well as a special citation from
New York City's Mayor, which he shared with Murray
Louis.
2000: the Black Business
and Professional
Association presented
Gibson with the
prestigious Harry Jerome
Award for Lifetime
Achievement.
Self-taught by watching the films of Gene Kelly and Sammy Davis Jr.
1931: performed professionally at the age of five as a tap dance
phenomenon in Vancouver. Before the age of ten, he appeared on stage
with touring groups, including The Eddie Cantor Show and Blackstone
the Magician.
1970: Opened studio in Toronto, promoting interracial classes &
performances.
1995: Gave up Toronto studio and returned to Vancouver, B.C. &
continued his work as role model for African-Canadian youth.

For Example: YTV –“Brownstone Kids”

CUSO-Afro Jazz Drum and Dance Ensemble.
1950s, Gibson
choreographed and
appeared in Bamboula, the
first CBC musical variety
television series produced
in Vancouver. It was one
of the first programs to
feature an interracial cast
of dancers.
1950s, Gibson performed
at Vancouver's Theatre
Under the Stars
productions such as Kiss
Me Kate and Finian's
Rainbow.
1939 –
B: Toronto
Modern Training in
U.S.
1963: Connecticut
College -Graham,
Limón, McKayle
Studies.
1966-Member José
Limón Dance Co.
1962: Ailey was the first African American artistic director to
receive federal government funds to tour internationally as part
of the country’s International Exchange Program. Alvin Ailey’s
company comprises of dancers from a wide variety of racial
and ethnic backgrounds.
Revelations (1960) signature piece set to African-American
spirituals and gospel songs.
Learn more:
Alvin Ailey Dance Theatre: www.ailey.org
LEARN MORE:
Leonard Gibson Website Tribute
http://len-gibson.weebly.com
‘Arts Alive’ – Leonard Gibson
http://artsalive.ca/en/dan/meet/bios/artistDetail.asp?artistID=99
Founder: 1968 - Toronto DanceTheatre along with
Patricia Beatty, Peter Randazzo.
1979 – Originated Professional Training Program for School of
Toronto Dance Theatre.
1997 - DtDE Dance Theatre David Earle debut in Elora, ON.
2011-DtDE – David Earle teaches and resides in Guelph
Created over 100 dance works.
2011 - Recipient prestigious Premier Arts Award
www.mtc.gov.on.ca/en/premiers_award/finalists_2011.shtml
Learn more:
David Earle Dance Theatre:www.dtde.ca
Judy Jarvis
1942 – 1986
B: Ottawa, ON
D: Toronto, ON
Died tragically too soon
from smoke inhalation
1965 – Berlin Germany
Studies with renowned
dance artist: Mary
Wigman
1967-1968:Taught
dance Queen’s
Founder: Judy Jarvis Dance
& Theatre Co., Toronto,
1974-1983
Most famous choreography:
Three Women,Bella, Clouds
and People...People. Jarvis’
works thrive in the Danny
in house fire.
University
Travelling teacher of
modern dance: 1968 –
1972 in Canada.
Grossman collection.
Learn more:
Dance Collection Danse
www.dcd.ca
Danny Grossman Dance Co.
www.dannygrossman.com