At
first, there was Isadora Duncan, who traded in her ballet garb to find her own
style fuelled by the need to express oneself. In 1906, which was less than 10
years after Duncan displayed her efforts to the world, Ruth St. Denis began her
perfumed and exotic solos. These established her as a strong-willed
professional and magical artist. After her came Martha Graham and Doris
Humphrey, who were not only different from each other but from their
predecessors as well. Indeed, Duncanites pay tribute to her to this day. St.
Denis was a renowned performer who remains a legend to this day while Graham
created dances right to the moment of her death.
Compared
to this trio, Humphrey may have been lost. She created 97 dances in total, but
only a handful are reenacted today (Humphrey
58).
Her short career may be owing to her arthritis, which undoubtedly affected her
movement though this may not be the only reason. The emphasis she placed on
abstract dancing may have something to do with this phenomenon. It is true she
simply was unrivaled by anyone else that in some of her pieces. However, her
habit was to make rules of everything including how one should do this or that.
Unfortunately for her, pioneers are known for breaking rules rather than making
them.
Humphrey's short career affected by arthritis was a pity of dancing history. As you said she was the one who made the rules instead of break the rules. I believe this was the reason why she was productive dancer with her short career.
ReplyDeleteIt's sad that it is true that pioneers are know for breaking the rules, not making them. Although there would be no rules unless someone was there to make them. So in my opinion we can thank Doris Humphrey for all of the rules that our past modern techniques had to break and make new interesting things.
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