Divine dancer : a biography of Ruth St. Denis / by Suzanne Shelton.

By: Material type: TextTextPublication details: Garden City, N.Y. : Doubleday, ©1981.Description: xvi, 338 p., [24] leaves of plates : ill. ; 24 cmISBN:
  • 0385141599
  • 9780385141598
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 20 792.8092 STD
LOC classification:
  • GV1785.S3 S53
Summary: "The turbulent career of Ruth St. Denis - performer, mystic, and seminal figure in modern dance - embraced the whole creative flux of artistic and spiritual movements in the early years of this century. Herself a fascinating mixture of earthiness and spirituality, chasteness and eroticism, St. Denis embodied the contradictory impulses of her time and gave form to them in dances that electrified her audiences. From the outset, she was endowed with an elusive star quality, a spellbinding stage presence that imbued her sinuous gestures with a kind of mythic grace. A variety dancer at fifteen Ruthie Dennis (her real name) served her apprenticeship with David Belasco's stage company At twenty-seven, her hair already completely grey, she made her solo debut with Radha, a landmark oriental dance that brought her fame. During a triumphant European tour, she danced for King Edward VII, was fêted by prewar Germany's artists and writers and sketched by Rodin. She returned to America a star, and married dancer Ted Shawn, with whom she founded Denishawn, the company which became the training ground for such celebrated modern dancers as Martha Graham. But this was only the beginning ....... Drawing on St. Denis' own diaries and letters, as well as on interviews with students and colleagues, 'Divine Dancer' illuminates both the origins of modern dance and the tumultuous life of one of its most charismatic first ladies." -- Jacket cover.
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Item type Current library Collection Call number Status Notes Date due Barcode
Books Books Academy of Music & Performing Arts Library General Stacks Non-fiction 792.8092 STD (Browse shelf(Opens below)) Available Kindly donated by J. Dyson. A06314

Includes index.

Bibliography: p. 299-319.

"The turbulent career of Ruth St. Denis - performer, mystic, and seminal figure in modern dance - embraced the whole creative flux of artistic and spiritual movements in the early years of this century. Herself a fascinating mixture of earthiness and spirituality, chasteness and eroticism, St. Denis embodied the contradictory impulses of her time and gave form to them in dances that electrified her audiences.
From the outset, she was endowed with an elusive star quality, a spellbinding stage presence that imbued her sinuous gestures with a kind of mythic grace. A variety dancer at fifteen Ruthie Dennis (her real name) served her apprenticeship with David Belasco's stage company At twenty-seven, her hair already completely grey, she made her solo debut with Radha, a landmark oriental dance that brought her fame. During a triumphant European tour, she danced for King Edward VII, was fêted by prewar Germany's artists and writers and sketched by Rodin. She returned to America a star, and married dancer Ted Shawn, with whom she founded Denishawn, the company which became the training ground for such celebrated modern dancers as Martha Graham. But this was only the beginning .......
Drawing on St. Denis' own diaries and letters, as well as on interviews with students and colleagues, 'Divine Dancer' illuminates both the origins of modern dance and the tumultuous life of one of its most charismatic first ladies." -- Jacket cover.

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