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How Did Ruth St. Denis Influence Modern Dance

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The Life and Work of the Divine Dancer, Ruth St. Denis The mother of modern dance paved the way for future generations of American modern dancers. Exotic and spiritual solos are the trademark of nearly all of Ruth St. Denis’s choreographic works. Greatly influenced by the Delsarte Method, Denis’s solos often had a focus on emotional intention behind the movements. Denis’s interesting style was a combination between the Delsarte Method and spirituality, both stemmed from childhood experiences. Often called the Divine Dancer, Ruth St. Denis was one of the first people to explore the modern realm of dance, making her a modern dance pioneer. Ruth Dennis was born in Newark, New Jersey January 20th, 1879. Her mother, Ruth Emma Dennis (Hull) …show more content…

Tom developed a drinking problem and Ruth’s parents would often argue so Ruth would retreat to her reading or go outside and play with her brothers for awhile. Whenever her mother felt a migraine coming, she would have Ruth read her bible verses. Therefore, from an early age, this exposure to Christian scripture had a great impact on Ruth’s spiritual life, especially when one of the family’s many boarders introduced Emma to the theories of Christian Science. This spiritual connection between nature, science, and religion was a profound influence on the young Ruth St. Denis. Another experience, that greatly impacted Ruth as an adolescent, was a performance of Genevieve Stebbins. Ruth considered this performance, “the real birth of my art life”. The Stebbins dance technique is rooted in the Delsarte system. Emma had trained Ruth in the Delsarte method, so Ruth was familiar with the concepts Stebbins used in her performance, however the artistic rearrangement of movement was a new concept for the young performer. Not long after Ruth watched Stebbins in New York, Ruth and her mother moved to the city so Ruth could work as a …show more content…

The dancers would turn the sounds into movement that they viewed with the music. Denis continued to tour during this time with a few students. She and Shawn were no longer happy in their marriage and struggled with fidelity and freedom. Denis often said that she felt like she was trapped in her marriage and Denishawn. Despite the couple’s issues, they kept up appearances in the public eye. In 1921, Ted Shawn opened another branch of the Denishawn school in New York with his star student, Martha Graham. Not long after, Denis rejoined him and the Denishawn company was performing

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