The Spiritual and Religious influences inside Denishawn
Ruth Saint Denis used the work of physical drive and paired it with the divine. She saw and shared dance as a “ritual and spiritual practice” that was vital to be shared. It was her fusion of both dance expressions as well as spirituality that reeled in Ted Shawn after he was taken aback by her performances. She had a way of expression that was unmatched and connected to people on a deeper level. This is what was taught at Denishawn.
At Denishawn they had varied repertory incorporated spiritual exotica in solo, duet as well as group form these went on to bigger performances as well like the dance pageant of India, Greece, and Egypt. An example of one of these performances would be when Ted Shawn, due to his large infatuation with the ideals of greek philosophy, unveiled his Death of Adonis performance which is still studied today. The Death of Adonis performance was a solo choreographed by Ted Shawn in 1924. The performer, J.M. Tate, danced like the sculpture of Adonis, nearly naked and covered in a pale chalk like paint. Tate is showing himself in a pure form and paired with the whiteness of the paint he is covered in is like a sculpture. This is not just empowering the concept of the male body, beauty, and power, but also displays a sense of Greek spirituality that was revolutionary to the dance world when displayed on stage. The image on the bottom left shows Tate in costume while performing The Death of Adonis by Ted Shawn.
The connection between the spiritual world and religion was motivational in the performances at Denishawn. Men and women were taken memorized by the beautiful work of the dancers expressing things that had never been seen on the stage before and taking it to new limits.
“I have always tried to 'dance' . . . things that ordinarily are spoken or written, or preached or lived. The eternal quest for truth, the ecstasy of an instant's communication with a divine being, the harmony of rituals, beautifully performed, was the story of my art and my religious life.”(Ruth Saint Denis)
Information Sources
1 Rossen, Rebecca.Dance Teacher;Ruth St Denis & Ted Shawn, New York Vol. 29, Iss. 10, (Oct 2007): 120,122,124.
2 ,Cohen-Stratyner, Barbara.; A Brief Precis of the Careers of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn,Performing Arts Resources; New York, N. Y. Vol. 20, (1997): 1-4.
3 Macaulay, Alastair. “Review: Bringing Ted Shawn Back Into the Limelight.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Sept. 2018, https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/23/arts/dance/ted-shawn-review-jacobs-pillow.html.
