Doris Humphrey

Doris Humphrey
Humphrey and dance partner

Doris Batcheller Humphrey (October 17, 1895 – December 29, 1958) was a dancer and choreographer of the early twentieth century. Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey and Julia Ellen Wells and was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster.[1] Along with her contemporaries, Martha Graham and Katherine Dunham, Humphrey was one of the second generation modern dance pioneers, who followed their forerunners – including Isadora Duncan, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn – in exploring the use of breath and developing techniques still taught today. As a result of many of her works being annotated, Humphrey continues to be taught, studied and performed to this day.

Contents

Early life

In Chicago, she both studied and taught dance, opening her own dance school in 1913 at the age of 19. In 1917, she moved to California and entered the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, where she studied, performed, taught classes, and learned choreography. Her creations from this era, Valse Caprice (Scarf Dance), Soaring, and Scherzo Waltz (Hoop Dance) are all still performed today. Humphrey toured the Orient for two years, followed by a successful career in American vaudeville theaters.

Dancing through the Great Depression

In 1928, she and fellow dancer Charles Weidman separated from the Denishawn School and moved to New York City, to become key figures in the modern dance movement. Her choreography explored the nuances of the human body's responses to gravity, embodied in her principle of fall and recovery. Her choreography from these early years includes Water Study, Life of the Bee, Two Ecstatic Themes and The Shakers.

The Humphrey-Weidman Company was successful even in the darkness of the Great Depression, touring America and developing new styles and new works based not on old tales, but on current events and concerns. In the mid-1930s, Humphrey created the New Dance Trilogy, a triptych comprising With My Red Fires, New Dance, and the now-lost Theater Piece.

One of her last pieces, Dawn in New York, featured the strengths she demonstrated throughout her career – her mastery of the intricacies of large groups, and her emphasis on sculptural shapes. Humphrey was on the original faculties of both The Bennington School of the Dance (1934) and The Juilliard School (1951), both directed by Martha Hill.

After retirement

Humphrey retired from performing in 1945, conceding to the ravages of arthritis. She then took up the position of artistic director for the José Limón Dance Company and continued to successfully choreograph with works such as Day on Earth, Night Spell, and Ruins and Visions.

Legacy

Shortly after her death in 1958,[2] aged 63, Humphrey's book, The Art of Making Dances (ISBN 0-87127-158-3), in which she shared her observations and theories on dance and composition, was posthumously published. In the introduction, she observed that in the 20th century, the demure and airy ballet had changed radically. "Suddenly the dance," she said, "the Sleeping Beauty, so long reclining in her dainty bed, had risen up with a devouring desire."

Humphrey was inducted into the National Museum of Dance C.V. Whitney Hall of Fame in 1987.

Notes

  1. ^ Doris Batcheller Humphrey, Horace Buckingham Humphrey, Simon James Humphrey, Rebecca Brewster m John Humphrey, Simon Brewster, Jr., Simon Brewster, Sr., Benjamin, William, Love, William of the Mayflower.
  2. ^ Doris Batcheller Humphrey at Find A Grave

References

External links



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