Vuth St. Denis Theory Of Dance

At the beginning of the twentieth century, European powers were in the process of mobilizing for the first world war after years of global imperialism, and the United States, after temporarily resolving the problems of Reconstruction and Industrialization, began to resume the course of expansion reaching out toward Asia and the Pacific. This era was consumed by limited choices in popular culture and dance, yet several dances began to emerge as a dominant form of art other than ballet. Born in 1878 to 1968, Ruth St. Denis was an American dancer renowned as a founder of modern dance, a sensational performer, and influential teacher. St. Denis was a pioneer in American modern dance and was able to successfully explore dance forms from diverse world religious and spiritual expression. She became very interested in the dancing techniques and emotions of Eastern cultures and created her own theory of dance based upon all of her early training, performers she worked with, and her reading on mythology and various cultures. She was equally influenced by philosophy, cultural history, and contemporary art. In particular, St. Denis was enamored with spirituality and the orient. For example, St. Denis learned about Buddhism, and the immediate context of spirituality inspired her to translate this energy in to choreographic practices that merged spiritual rituals with dance and movement . One of her earliest pieces, Incense, was first performed in 1906 in New York’s Hudson Theater. Incense is based upon the Hindu ritual of puja, in which an individual worships the deities with offerings of flowers, fruit and incense . Although her choices in dance were limited at the time of the turn of the 20th century, Ruth St. Denis was able to incorporate ...

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...tions and practices of the vaudeville stage into the world of serious concert dance and her unique solos and contemporary dance steps successfully combined theatrical and concert dance traditions. Despite the cultural struggle to separate from classical ballet and the aristocratic spectrum of the performing arts, St. Denis was able to captivate her audience by integrating spirituality and open-mindedness in Incense by incorporating ideas and symbols of the Orient. St. Denis’s drive to foster the divine and spiritual within the human accompanied her throughout life. In fact, she continued to perform, lecture, and teach well into the 1960s, until she passed away at the age of 89 on July 21, 1968 . Ruth St. Denis's gifts to the modern dance universe and the entertainment industry have been a major contribution to the world and her work will live with us for all time.