Ruth St. Denis (1879–1968)

Ruth St. Denis (originally Ruth Denis) was born in Somerville, New Jersey, the daughter of an inventor and farmer. At an early age, she began performing in vaudeville and became known for exotic and colorful Eastern dances. In 1914 she married dancer Ted Shawn and, a year later, the two founded a mehr anzeigen dance school and company known as Denishawn in Los Angeles. The company toured the United States until 1931, when St. Denis and Shawn separated and the company folded. After this breakup, St. Denis continued dancing well into her eighties. In her work, St. Denis was strongly influenced by the theories of French theoretician and singing teacher Francois Delsarte and the American producer and playwright David Belasco. Her works are characterized by exoticism, richness, and magnificence. It has been suggested by some critics that she adopted elements of foreign cultures and incorporated them in her dances with no particular comprehension of either the cultures or the place of the abstracted elements. (Bowker Author Biography) weniger anzeigen