Ted Shawn. Season of 1921-1922.
[New York: Harry H. Hall, Manager, Gabrielle Elliott, Associate, 1920.]. Single leaf folded to thirds. Season program with photo portraits of the dancers and musicians involved in Ted Shawn’s company. [With: ]Shawn, Ted, and Ruth St. Denis.Photo postcard of Shawn and St. Denis in Coronado, signed by Shawn. Coronado, California, n.d., ca. 1920s. 5 x 3 in. Fine condition. Front cover printed with an illustration of dancers by Ray F. Coyle, with a gold ink accent. Very good condition. Item #17436
In 1915, Ted Shawn (1891 – 1972) and Ruth St. Denis (1879 – 1968) founded the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts in Los Angeles, which would go on to achieve international renown. Denishawn grew from St. Denis’ own Ruth St. Denis Company, with which Shawn toured, and the small company that had supported Shawn during his first individual concert tour in 1913. Shawn and St. Denis operated the school together until 1919, when Shawn took over (though St. Denis was still influential on the business). Denishawn’s many elite students included performers like Doris Humphrey, Louise Brooks, Lillian Powell, Evan-Burrows Fontaine, and Charles Weidman. St. Denis and Shawn were also instrumental in the founding of the Jacob’s Pillow dance center and the festival hosted there.
The program included here notes that the 1921-22 season offerings include Shawn’s “Dance Church Service,” in which “a composite of the familiar Protestant church rituals is presented entirely in rhythmic movements.” The other offerings included “music visualizations,” “a term invented by Ruth St. Denis to replace the much-abused word ‘interpretation.’.
Price: $300.00