(c. 1879 - July 21, 1968)
Ruth St. Denis's contribution to modern dance and the entertainment industry is far reaching. Denis began as a "skirt dancer" in a dime museum and in vaudeville houses in New York City in 1892.1 David Belasco noticed St. Denis in 1898 and he hired her to perform with his company. Prior to meeting Belasco, St. Denis was known only by her given name, Ruthie Dennis; Belasco was responsible for giving Ruthie her stage name "St. Denis."2 In her travel with Belasco's company, St. Denis was introduced to various European art forms and English actors and actresses, namely Sarah Bernhardt.
Throughout her travels, she also became interested in Eastern cultures and melodramatic acting conventions. It was during this period that she began to develop her own theory of dance and drama based on her early training in Delsarte and ballet. She was equally influenced by philosophy, cultural history, and contemporary art. In particular, St. Denis was enamored with spirituality and the orient.
In 1905, St. Denis separated from Belasco's company to pursue a career as a solo performer in New York City. Her first engagement was at Proctor's Vaudeville House, performing her own piece, "Radha," for which "She had designed an elaborate and exotic costume and a series of steps telling the story of a mortal maid who was loved by the god Krishna."3 The dance incorporated St. Denis's interpretation of Indian culture and narrative forms into contemporary American dance forms. St. Denis was successful as a solo performer for a few years, drawing patronage from society women and the vaudeville houses. Hoping for even more success, in 1906 St. Denis left the United States for Europe.
St. Denis's tour of Europe was indeed successful and she did not return to the United States until 1909. She continued to tour the United States until 1911 when the support for solo performers began to wane. She began teaching her methods, eventually joining with her future husband Ted Shawn and forming their own school of dance, Denishawn, in 1914. The school was founded on the Delsarte method, ballet, and popular dance forms. Although conflict inevitably occurred at Denishawn, St. Denis and Shawn's methods were highly influential on the formulation of modern dance. Some of their leading students included Martha Graham, Doris Humphreys, and Charles Weidman. Even after the school disbanded, St. Denis danced well into her later years, years during which she presented some of her most spiritual work. She died peacefully in her bed in 1968.
1. A "skirt dancer" was a female dancer whose skirt was short enough to reveal her legs.
2. http://www.pitt.edu/~gillis/dance/ruth/html
3. ibid
Resources
"Chapter 2: The Solo Dancers." http://www.pitt.edu/~gillis/dance/ruth.html 30 August 2007.
"Ruth St. Denis." George Eastman House. http://www.eastman.org/ar/celeb/stdenis_idx00001.html 30 August 2007.
This database has a wealth of photographic images of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn.
"Ruth St. Denis." IMDb. http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0820515/ 8 October 2007.
"Ruth St. Denis." Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruth_St._Denis 30 August 2007.
Sherman, Jane and Christina Schlundt. "Who's St. Denis? What Is She?" Dance Chronicle. 10:3 (1987) 305-329.
This source is an easily readable dialogue between two women who knew Ruth St. Denis during her lifetime. One of the women wrote her dissertation and interviewed St. Denis while she was alive. The other woman was a student in St. Denis's dance company. The women work through disagreement's regarding St. Denis's aesthetic and spiritual assertions.
St. Denis, Ruth. Ruth St. Denis: An Unfinished Life. New York: Harper and Brothers P., 1939.
St. Denis's book is a somewhat candid autobiography published post-mortem.
Terry, Walter. Miss Ruth: The "More Living Life" of Ruth St. Denis. New York: Dodd, Mead and Co., 1969.
Terry's book is a readable biography of Ruth St. Denis from an admiring source.