Modern Dance History & Artists Resources

These videos typically include interviews, archival photographs, and footage of dance rehearsals and performances of some of the dance artists who were catalysts for the initial and ongoing development of modern dance.

Articles

• Dancing by John Corbin:
  (http://books.google.com/ebooks/reader?id=iUdFAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&output=reader&pg=GBS.PA97)
• An 8-page 1911 article on the emergence and impact of modern dance. A brief excerpt: We Americans, who have been so long a laughing stock for our prudery, are at last discovering that we have bodies. The world and the flesh are no longer, to our thinking, copartners with the devil.
  

Academic Video Online: streaming video to watch online

(http://ezproxy.stolaf.edu/login?url=http://video.alexanderstreet.com)

• Dancing Program 7: The Individual and Tradition (http://vasc.alexanderstreet.com.ezproxy.stolaf.edu/View/443842): (DVD 7) by John Hill (composer), Raoul Trujillo, directed by Meyer, Muffie & Hovde, Ellen (ArtHaus Musik)
  
• A historical survey of twentieth-century dance explores the role of Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in fomenting a revolution in classical ballet, and the evolution of American modern dance, beginning with Isadora Duncan and Ruth St. Denis. Includes the contributions of Martha Graham, Katherine Dunham's integration of African and American dance forms, George Balanchine's extension of the classical ballet tradition, and the 1960s as a period of creative ferment and artistic questioning, which provided fertile ground for the innovations of Merce Cunningham, Tharp, and others. 59:05 min.
• Ruth St. Denis: The Dancing Prophet (http://vasc.alexanderstreet.com.ezproxy.stolaf.edu/view/1665803): (Chip Taylor Communications)
• This documentary profiles Ruth St. Denis, a pioneer of modern dance. She was a vibrant and outspoken revolutionary for dance and the cause of women. 25:47 min.

Course Reserves: 2-hour reserve to view in Rolvaag Memorial Library

• Beyond the Mainstream: post modern dancers: Producers, Merrill Brockway, Carl Charlson; director, Merrill Brockway; writer, Faubion Bowers; narrator, Alan Titus. New York, N.Y. : WNET, 1980.
• Explores the non-traditional modern dance trends through interviews with and excerpts from the work of choreographers Trisha Brown, David Gordon, Steve Paxton, Yvonne Rainier and Kei Takei. 60 min.
• Call Number: GV1783 .B4

• Free to dance: produced and directed by Madison Davis Lacy ; written by Madison Davis Lacy, Adam Zucker ; a co-production of the American Dance Festival and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in association with Thirteen/WNET New York.
• The history of African American dance; emphasizes the role that African-American choreographers and dancers have played in the development of modern dance as an American form of art. Featuring the African American Dance Ensemble and other Black dance groups.
• You are welcome to view all 3 parts but required to view only one part.
• Part one: "What do you dance?" focuses "on the early development of modern dance-and set against the background of the Harlem Renaissance, racial segregation and the Great Depression ... [examining[ how African Americans overcame a 'segregated aesthetic' to become recognized as modern dance artists." 57 min.
  
• Part two: "Steps of the gods" features Katherine Dunham, whose "priority is to create new choreography with her dancers." 57 min.
• Part three: Go for what you know" examines the "1960s through the 1980s ..." 57 min.
• Call Numbers: GV1624.7.A34 F74 2001 v.1; GV1624.7.A34 F74 2001 v.2; GV1624.7.A34 F74 2001 v.3

• The Men Who Danced: producer and director, Ron Honsa ; writer, Richard Philp
• Presents the story of the first all-male dance company in the United States, known as Ted Shawn's Men Dancers, including historic footage of the company performing in the 1930s, as well as the story of the founding of Jacob's Pillow. 30 min.
• Call Number: GV1785.S52 M46 2005

• Trailblazers of Modern Dance: WNET/13 ; produced by Merrill Brockway and Judy Kimberg ; directed by Emile Ardolino ; written by Elizabeth Kendall.
• Reviews the history of modern dance in America from its beginnings in the early 1900's to the appearance of Martha Graham in the early 1930's. Includes rare film footage of Doris Humphrey, Ruth St. Denis, Anna Pavlova, and what is believed to be Isadora Duncan, among others, along with reconstructed performances of Duncan's Scriabin études, St. Denis and Humphrey's Soaring, and Ted Shawn's Polonaise. 60 min.
  
• St. Olaf Rolvaag Media Room / DVD / Call Number: GV1783 .T72

Carleton College Library Resources

• The History of Modern Dance: produced, directed and edited by James Holzknecht ; Castalia Media.
• Includes interviews, archival photographs, and footage of dance rehearsals and performances to explore the history of 20th century dance. Features discussion of topics such as shoeless dancing in ballet, the Graham technique, the contributions of the African and Caribbean movements, the use of technology, the role of academia, and more. 52 min.
• Carleton College Circulation Desk - DVD / Call Number: GV1783 .H57 2008
• Important Note: St. Olaf students typically must view Carleton College DVD material in the Carleton College library only, which you are welcome to do. However, this resource will be available to view during one of our modern dance class periods. The exact date will be announced.