Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman

Blog Assignment #4

As we all know, Doris Humphrey was a pioneer of modern dance and very influential in dance history. Doris was very significant in dance history because she moved away from the sentimentalism and romanticism of the modern dance world Denishawn created. Doris Humphrey’s creation of the Fall and Recovery technique was very new to the modern dance world in the 1930’s and is still used in studying movement today. During this era, we had ballet whose focus is to defy gravity. Doris, on the other hand, used her technique to move and work with gravity. She was interested in the apex of the continuum in the suspension of tension, unlike Graham who was more focused on the tension in moving. She was one of the first Americans to really analyze and notate Modern Dance’s movement. For example, she characterized movement patters as opposition, succession, and unison and movement characteristics as sharp accent, sustained flow, and rest. Not only did Doris teach these techniques but also codified them in her influential book, The Art of Making Dances. This book is a very large contribution to the art of dance. This was the first time in history that there was a notated, concrete, fully articulated choreographic method for modern dance makers. This book is still used read, and studied today by contemporary dancers.

Blog Assignment #3

During Doris Humphrey’s dance career, many things were changing and happening all over the world.

In 1918, when Doris joined the Denishawn faculty, WWI was coming to an end. She was choreographing and teaching through the final months of the war and finally on November 11, 1918 Germany and Allies signed the Armstice Agreement, which brought WWI to an end. Although there are not specific pieces or artistic connections related to the end of World War I and her work, I’m sure it had a major affect on her, along with ever other American, on the daily view of life.

On August 26^th 1920, the nineteenth amendment to the United States Constitution became a law and women finally got the right to vote.

In 1925, when Doris tours the orient for two years, New York was thriving and expanding. It was said that in the year, New York passed London on being one of the largest cities in the world. Shortly after Doris gets back from the orient, she left Denishawn to form the Humphrey-Weidman Company. The growing of New York City gave Doris the opportunity to make her footprint in Americas Modern Dance scene.

During this time, a period we call the Roaring Twenties was sweeping America as well as London, Berlin, and Paris. This was a time of great social, artistic, and cultural activity and progress. An artistic and design style called Art Deco began in France and spread throughout the world. Art Deco was linear and symmetrical and veered away from the predecessor, Art Nouveau, which used flowing, organic curves. This is when Doris was dancing with Denishawn and forming her philosophy and technique on modern dance. Her technique of fall and recovery connects to Art Nouveau in that it is more organic, but I can also see the influence of Art Deco. In Doris’ book, The Art of Making Dances, she describes and illustrates the correct way of making dances. She describes the linear and symmetrical (and asymmetrical) ways of using groups in choreography. There are even illustrations depicting the correct and incorrect way to arrange groups on stage.

In October 29^th, 1929, after the wealth and excess of the roaring twenties, the stock market in America crashed. This quickly spread and affected almost every other country. This historical time is known as the Great Depression. Personal income and tax revenue dropped; unemployment in the US increased to 25 percent; and international trade plunged more than 50 percent. Regardless of what area you were in, rural or urban, the Great Depression affected you. Despite the struggle of the United States at this time, the Humphrey-Weidman Company was successful. Throughout the depression, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman created many pieces and toured the United States. Like fellow modern dance pioneer, Martha Graham, their work at this time was based on current events and concerns. Unlike past dancers/choreographers such as: Isadora Duncan, who was inspired by ancient Grecian dance; or Ruth St. Denis, who was inspired from an Egyptian cigarette advertisement. Although the audience probably could not connect the pieces from Humphrey-Weidman’s Company to specific current events, the time that the two were living in definitely affected their choreography.