The Costumes of Denishawn

The costumes that were worn by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn along with the rest of the company were essential in bringing to life their dance performances. Every dance had a costume, each costume was made up of multiple elements from garment to headpieces, each as intricate as the last embroidered and beaded in precise detail. The costumes were often inspired by the different cultures they portrayed in their dance performance, elements of the costumes were often directly taken from traditional garments that was acquired on their travels and then altered by Ruth St. Denis (“Uncovering the Costumes").  


Many of the costumes of the Denishawn were acquired by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn while on their tour abroad, the traditional garments were either kept in their original form or altered by Ruth St. Denis. Looking at the costumes of the Denishawn today the question of cultural appropriation is raised, as many of these costumes were traditional cultural garments often from China, India and Japan. These costumes were paired with the dances that have also been influenced by another culture. Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis wanted to be authentic to the dance with the pairing of costume and dance. In looking through the archives of costumes today the line between authenticity and appropriation is debated by scholars and those interested in the Denishawn. Although during the time in which they preformed these pieces the dances were seen as authentic even though they were not necessarily authentic to the culture they derived inspiration. The question was also raised if their performances brought awareness to these other cultures their audiences weren't as aware of. Ted Shawn preformed a piece 'The Feather of the Dawn' where he danced a Native American ritual out of support. Scholars and audience debate whether their appropriated performances raised support (Kourlas). As curator at Williams College Kevin Murphy pointed out 

"For all rhetoric about needing to preserve these, he didn't actually try to do that. On one hand, Shawn is speaking up and on the other hand, he is also destroying it" Kevin Murphy (Kourlas)


The costumes of the Denishawn are important in understanding the work done by Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis because they are 

"Often the the only surviving thing we have from their performances" Ms.Hamilton (Kourlas)

The costumes serve as a record of their performances, along with some video recordings and photographs the costumes stand as the physical objects of their performances. Every detail of a costume was very important to Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn, so much so that the students of the Denishawn studied the craft of making fabric, designing costumes and creating accessories. The making of these accessories and costumes was important knowledge for completing a dance piece and also function as a way for the students to earn money for tuition through selling their pieces in the Craft Shop ("Denishawn").

The Making of the Costumes

Finding the right costume for each dance piece was very important to Ruth St. Denis. From the movement of the material, embroidered details, the style, and silhouette each aspect of the costume from head to toe were all taken into account in finding the perfect costume. At the Denishawn school, Ruth St. Denis taught classes on making costumes students would learn about materiality, using the weight and movement of fabric to their
benefit.

Costumes were also important to Ted Shawn and his male dancers who often pictured wearing leotards. Which can be seen in his piece The Dance of the Ages where paint was applied to the leotards to mimic water.
 

Along with the costumes that were created at the school, many of the costumes seen on the stage were purchased by Ted Shawn and Ruth St.Denis while traveling. The designers of the costumes were rarely credited, each costume was often an assemblage of pieces made by different people (Young).

Work cited:

"Denishawn: the Ruth St. Denis School of Dancing and its related arts : third year : season opens June eleventh, nineteen seventeen " (1917). Brown Olio. Brown Digital Repository. Brown University Library. https://repository.library.brown.edu/studio/item/bdr:787565/

Kourlas, Gia. “The Costumes in Modern Dance's Attic.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 June 2018, www.nytimes.com/2018/06/19/arts/dance/the-costumes-in-modern-dances-attic.html.

“Uncovering the Costumes of Denishawn and Ted Shawn's Men Dancers.” Jacob's Pillow, Jacob's Pillow Dance, www.jacobspillow.org/picks/things-we-love/uncovering-the-costumes-of-denishawn-and-ted-shawns-men-dancers/.

Young, Tricia H. "The Killinger Collection of Denishawn and Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers Costumes." Performing Arts Resources, vol. 20, 1997, pp. 93-141. ProQuest, https://search.proquest.com/docview/2148956?accountid=9758.