Musical Accompaniment: Evergreen by Roy Orbison

 

Ruth St. Denis was a pioneer of modern dance.  I first came across a picture of her bejeweled hands and looked her up. She’s a luminary in the world of dance so she’s probably well known to many.

She was born in Newark, New Jersey in January 1879 . Her name was originally Ruth Dennis which she later altered slightly for a more fitting name for the stage.  It’s a clever way to change her name. (I tried her formula with my own name but Kimberly St. Tiley doesn’t have the same effect. )

Her mother was a doctor and her father was a machinist. They weren’t married. That sounds very  modern, doesn’t it? There weren’t many female doctors back then, or many children born to highly educated yet unmarried parents.

Ruth’s creative abilities were in evidence early on. She studied dance from childhood but also liked to write her own melodramas and act them out for her friends.  She was raised as a Christian Scientist.

She went to New York in 1891, and her debut as a dancer came shortly afterwards as part of a dance company.

In 1904, Ruth saw a poster that featured the Egyptian goddess Isis. The image captivated her and inspired her dancing for the rest of her life. Shortly afterwards, she became a solo artist and toured inEurope.

In 1911, a dancer named Ted Shawn. saw Ruth perform and seems to have become smitten with her.

Ted applied to be her student, but instead became her husband and artistic partner. In 1915, they cofounded the Denishawn School of American Modern Dance where many famous dancers studied.

Here are Ted and Ruth performing  together in their Egyptian Ballet:

Ruth published a number of articles on spiritual dance and the mysticism of the body, and later wrote a book called Lotus Light.

Here is the last picture I found of Ruth. She’s really lovely, isn’t she? Her dancing must have been dazzling to have overshadowed her beauty.

Her autobiography, An Unfinished Life,, was published post-humorously in 1969.

Here is the picture I first saw of Ruth St. Denis’ hands.