Doris
Humphrey
Introduction
Doris Humphrey was an American choreographer and dancer in the early 20th century. She, along with her contemporaries Katherine Dunham and Martha Graham, were second-generation modern dance trailblazers. They followed the pioneers including Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Dennis, and Isadora Duncan in developing dancing techniques and the use of breath among other methods still in use today.
Doris Humphrey was an American choreographer and dancer in the early 20th century. She, along with her contemporaries Katherine Dunham and Martha Graham, were second-generation modern dance trailblazers. They followed the pioneers including Ted Shawn, Ruth St. Dennis, and Isadora Duncan in developing dancing techniques and the use of breath among other methods still in use today.
Background
Humphrey
was born in Illinois, in 1895, but she grew up in Chicago. Her father operated
the Palace Hotel, which was a residence for vaudeville performers. Her mother,
on the other hand, taught the piano. In her youth, Humphrey studied the Dalcroze’s
system of Eurythmics, Americanized Delsarte, ballroom dance, ballet, and piano.
Her talent in dancing was immediately apparent, and she began to use it to
teach interpretive dance and ballet to children at age 15 (Stodelle 41). Over
the next few years, she joined a variety troupe and traveled the Santa Fe
railroad line performing to employees of the railroad.
After a few years, she came home and began a studio of her own with her mother acting as her business manager and accompanist. She moved to California in 1917 and joined Denishawn. Here, she began to choreograph shows with the collaboration of Ruth St. Denis. The duo came up with famous pieces such as Sonata Pathetique and Soaring (Mindlin 111). She left Denishawn in 1928 and, together with Charles Weidman, began her company and school. Her interests lie in moving away from the romanticism and sentimentality of Denishawn to create a truly modern dance style and vocabulary. In an interview, she once stated that she and her students found their motivation in enthusiasm for discoveries about dancing (Jeannechild n.p).
After a few years, she came home and began a studio of her own with her mother acting as her business manager and accompanist. She moved to California in 1917 and joined Denishawn. Here, she began to choreograph shows with the collaboration of Ruth St. Denis. The duo came up with famous pieces such as Sonata Pathetique and Soaring (Mindlin 111). She left Denishawn in 1928 and, together with Charles Weidman, began her company and school. Her interests lie in moving away from the romanticism and sentimentality of Denishawn to create a truly modern dance style and vocabulary. In an interview, she once stated that she and her students found their motivation in enthusiasm for discoveries about dancing (Jeannechild n.p).
In my view, Humphrey started her real dancing career after she joined Denishawn. The Sonata Pathetique and Soaring made her famous. But after she left Denishawn, she started her modern dancing career and focused on modern dance movement. Her whole career was connected with other Big Four which also shaped Humphrey's dancing style
ReplyDeleteIts cool that she started off doing so many classic things like learning ballet and to play the piano. Although later on in her life she turned out to come up with her own whole new technique that was completely different. I think maybe she had tried the other styles and while she was a great dancer, they didn't give her the joy she had really wanted. So she heard about the fall and recovery technique and it really spoke to her.
ReplyDeleteI think it's cool that she left Denishawn with Charles Weidman to do her own thing with the type of dancing she wanted to do. I didn't realize that she had left before they closed to start her own company, but good for her for taking the initiative in doing what she needed to do.
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