Blog Assignment #2

Doris Humphrey studied at Denishawn with Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. There, She met Charles Weidman. At Denishawn, Humphrey and Weidman discovered they have the same views and philosophies on the art of dance and decided to leave and form their own company. They called the company Humphrey-Weidman. They created their own technique, with the main principle being fall and recovery. They had many students come through our school, one of which was José Limón. He danced with them for many years and then formed his own company and developed a technique of his own. Later, Doris became the artistic director of his company.

Doris Humphrey also wrote the book, The Art of Making Dances. She believed the “germ” of the book existed when she was a child. As a child she was a lover of music. She has memories of her mother playing MacDowell’s, “Witches’ Dance” and Sinding’s, “Rustle of Spring.” She believes she was led to dance through her background in music. Although she was terrible at playing the keyboard, she said, “Still, I think I should have preferred to be a composer of music.”