Anna Sokolow Research Paper

Anna Sokolow was an American dance and choreographer. Sokolow didn’t just choreograph pieces, she addressed the big issues that went on during her life in her dances. Sokolow’s pieces were very deep and her audience usually felt disturbed after watching. She was born on February 9, 1910 in Hartford, Connecticut. Her parents were Samuel and Sara Sokolowski, who were Russian Immigrants. In 1912, Anna and her family moved to New York. During her childhood, Sokolow studied dance and performing dance with instructors at the Emanuel Sisterhood Settlement House with her sister Rose. Her teacher was Else Pohl. Pohl taught her interpretive dance. By the time she was fifteen, her teachers had taught her everything, so they sent her off to one of the first Off-Broadway theaters. Sokolow attended the Henry Street Settle House, which was the original Neighborhood Playhouse. In 1928, she was given a full scholarship to dance in the special classes of the Junior Festivals Players. Some of her teachers were Martha Graham, Louis Horst, Michio, Ito, and Benjamin Zamach. Her first theatre performance was Ernest Bloch’s Israel Sympony in 1928. In the 1930’s, she started her professional career. She was part of Martha Graham’s dance company. Sokolow started her first dance company, Dance Unit, in 1936. Her group worked with the New Dance Group and Workers Dance League. Throughout 1930 and the 1940s, Sokolow performed solo and group pieces. In her

She was received the Dance Magazine Award, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the American/Israeli Cultural Foundation, the Samuel H. Scripps Award and the Encomienda Aztec Eagle Honor. The E.A.E.H. is the highest honor given to a foreigner by Mexico. She received her Honorary Doctorate degrees from Ohio State University, Boston Conservatory of Music and Brandeis University. In 1998, Anna was inducted into the National Museum of Dance’s Dance Hall of