Students
Louise Brooks
Louise Brooks, a student at Denishawn from 1921-1924, performed with the Denishawn Dance Company and the Ziegfield Follies. However as a dancer and actress, she was most famous for her roles in film.
Read more about Louise Brooks on Molly Littman's project on Louise Brooks
https://www.pandorasbox.com/louise_brooks_society
Edna Guy
In a letter dated August 31, 1924, Guy mentions starting Denishawn in October of that year .[1] Her primary teacher was Katherine Edison who taught her technique and dramatic gesture based on the principles of Delsarte. She also took private classes from Paul Mathis and repertory classes from Hazel Krans who taught her dances such as ‘ ‘Temple Bells’ ‘ and ‘ ‘Dancing Girl of Dehli’ ‘.[1] Guy wrote of her earlier experience at Denishawn in a letter to St.Denis: “The future holds much brightness for me—I smile, I learn, I dance and wait—and I’m happy”.[1] During this time, Guy was also taking classes at Hunter College, studying typing and shorthand .[1] She first travelled with the company from September 1927 until May 1928 as St. Denis’ personal assistant.[1] It was also through St. Denis that Guy met Japanese-American photographer Soichi Sunami, who took some of the few surviving portraits of her.
After three years of training at Denishawn, Guy was still only allowed to perform in-house recitals, her race being the hindering factor. In 1930 she continued as St. Denis’ seamstress and wardrobe assistant. At this time also, Guy, in conjunction with friends, created dances to Negro spirituals that her mother loved.[2] While St. Denis was away on tour Guy was asked to leave the company due to a misunderstanding. They did however reconcile later on in life .
Read about Edna Guy's teacher, Katherine Edson and other teachers at Denishawn on Lily Edgerton's project on The Denishawn MagazineLearn more about Edna Guy
Edna Guy's complications with race
https://www.thirteen.org/freetodance/behind/behind_pioneers_b.htmlhttps://www.nytimes.com/2001/06/17/arts/dance-the-struggle-of-the-black-artist-to-dance-freely.html
African-American Concert Dance: The Harlem Renaissance and Beyond
Charles Weidman
Along with Denishawn dancer, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, invented a movement vocabulary based on principles of gravity and the experience of falling and recovering. Described as the “arc between two deaths,” the dancer is challenged to completely succumb to gravity - “to fall” and then to find the power to rise again - “to recover” and then to experience the ecstasy of the moment of suspension before falling again and repeating the cycle. This concept was key to the choreography of dance pioneer, Jose Limon, who used it to create dances of great emotional power, including such classics as The Moor's Pavane based on Shakespeare's Othello and There Is a Time, inspired by Ecclesiastes 3.
