Flames of One Fire: A Multimedia History of the Denishawn Legacy

Summary The story of the Denishawn phenomena as the cradle of American modern dance and its enduring influence is a fascinating one that deserves retelling and renewed illumination. Phoebe Barr was a Denishawn student and dancer from 1928-1932 who carried it's flame of inspiration throughout a lifetime of dance and teaching. Before her death in 1996, she lovingly passed on to me a wealth of materials in the form of books, letters, photographs, and memorabilia including meticulously kept programs, notes, sheet music and newspaper clippings. By studying and cataloging these materials,and putting them in the context of broader research, I propose to construct a multimedia resource. This will take two primary forms. (1) A web site on the World Wide Web, which will represent the history of Modern Dance, including the major personalities and leaders who emerged from Denishawn. The distinctive elements will be the specific and personal content from the letters, photos, etc. of Phoebe Barr (2) A CD, which parallels the web site in content, but with expanded features of primarily visuals, video clips, an a Macromedia Director presentation. This could be made available to dance departments around the country for a nominal production cost plus mailing. This project will serve as a practical tool for dancers, researchers and those with an interest in the performing arts. My primary objective will be to represent the achievements in the dance arts of the past century in an understandable and accessible framework.

Introduction After a searching in the New York City's Strand Bookstore for Walter Terry's, Ted Shawn: The Father of Modern Dance, I was surprised to find that there were none of the over twenty books Terry authored about dance in the stacks. After questioning the archival department I was given the address of a bookseller specialing in theatre and the performing arts. On about 18th street, third floor up, I found the door and knocked. A gentleman answered and discovered a small room with shelves to the ceiling lined with books. Questioned about the Terry book, he pointed to two small lower shelves, of dance books. Amongst these few booksI discovered Ted Shawn: The Father of Modern Dance. I took this to be a lucky sign along the road of my gathering interest in the history of Denishawn. Of all the arts, dance and its history is least a part of popular culture and common knowledge. TodayÕs college student might know the name Martha Graham, but few, even student dancers, know the name Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn.

Phoebe Barr and her Legacy The Website will consist of the material Phoebe Barr collected and be structured around her life and experiences in dance. Phoebes excitement about dance will shine through in the correspondence and so accurately reflect the spirit of the times. Phoebe's own journey into dance was first ignited in 1923 when she witnessed a performance by Denishawn while a student at the North Carolina Women's University (now UNC-Greensboro). Describing Phoebe's response ,Alabama writer, Susan Wolfe, says "When the concert ended and the house lights were turned off, she sat there alone in the darkness, having been uplifted and transported to another world." Her career as a dancer and teacher lead her back to North Carolina and to the University at Chapel Hill, later Sophie Newcomb University in New Orleans, and finally to Tuscaloosa and The University of Alabama in 1947 when her husband, Scott, joined the Physics faculty. All of these institutions as well as the Alabama State Dance Council have direct ties to PhoebeÕs career and have honored her with awards and recognition throughout the years. One of the most important documents I have to draw from is an extensive video interview with Phoebe produced in 1990 when she was an honored guest in the "Women In Dance Series" funded by the Newcomb College Foundation. The materials as a whole are so extensive and deep with content, that I have spent considerable time sorting, reading, and selecting images. I have compiled a CD of sixty jpeg images, with a short narrative description. The cover of the CD is a photo collage of Phoebe surrounded by a border of smaller images, which constitute a visual chronology of her life from birth to death. During the course of this study I expect to discover many cross connections between Phoebe, her fellow dancers, and students. A pivotal point for Phoebe Barr was the day in 1929 she received offers from both Denishawn to join their company and Doris Humphree to join her new production of Lysistrata. Phoebe chose Denishawn and her loyalty to Shawn kept her with his 1932 East Coast tour with its grueling schedule in the face of the depression. Some of the most colorful and revealing glimpses of the dynamic personality of Shawn ("Papa" to his dancers) are revealed in his personal letters to Phoebe and his unpublished 27 years of annual newsletters. He entitled them "My annual newsletter in Lieu of the Christmas Greeting I did not send and to Thank You for the Christmas and Birthday Greetings You Sent Me." Most of the letters that Phoebe wrote to her husband Scott while touring with Shawn's company have been lost, but the following excerpt from a letter Phoebe wrote in 1930, reveals her transcendent experience as a student of Denishawn participating in a special workshop given by a representative of the German dancer Mary Wigman. "That is just the thing though-its like nothing else in the world-except perhaps dreams I've had. Maybe it's a little like a person who has dreamed music all their lives and have only heard stilted little set tunes in their own country, but in their hearts have heard the pulse and roll of great symphonies of the world-then suddenly they come into an arena where a great composer has caught and passed into his musicians some of the meaning of all life with its overtones of joy and sorrow, light and dark-everything. Then this person becomes one with them and lives in a world bigger than himself or any one self. I am that person- and the symphony I've found is not music but dance.". Another fascinating letter is hand written by Martha Graham to thank her for her hospitality during a 1949 performance in the Tuscaloosa. One of the most striking dance programs amongst Phoebe's materials was from the 1923 Tuscaloosa performance of the Denishawn tour, the last year Martha Graham was with the company, before breaking away under less than pleasant circumstances. Phoebe admitted with a hint of mischief that she and other Denishawn students would sneak out and see MarthaÕs experiments. After leaving the Shawn dancers Phoebe began shaping and expanding the dance program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill while her husband pursued his doctorate there. One of Phoebe's students, Walter Terry, became one of America's foremost dance critics. His 1956 book, The Dance in America, is dedicated to Phoebe: He states:"the first to lead me along the pathway to dance." At the same time paralleling the formation of Ted Shawn's all male dance group, Phoebe also worked with groups of young male dancers. Several of her young men later joined Shawn's Company, touring with them throughout the next decade. One of the most notable of these dancers was Foster Fitzsimmons who later left Shawn's group to form a successful performing partnership with Miriam Winslow, and eventually returned to join the dance faculty at Chapel Hill. Interestingly a cross connection arises here as Fitzsimmon's student, Edie Barnes, is now the director of the dance program at The University of Alabama. She credits Fitzsimmons with steering her onto this path of dance. With her arrival in Tuscaloosa in 1947, Phoebe helped create the foundation of the dance program at the University of Alabama. She worked alongside Lou Wall, director of the dance program, for over twenty-five years. Upon this foundation and with the leadership of Barnes, the Dance program at Alabama continues to strengthen and gain prominence. It has become the site of a Summer Ballet Intensive Program in conjunction with The American Ballet Theatre. I have been invited to present a seminar on Denishawn era, during this summer program. On a more one to one level I came across a fascinating connection when speaking of this project to my teacher of international folk dancing. She asked me, "Do you know what Phoebe Barr gave me for my sixteenth birthday?" The answer was "A day with Ruth St. Denis" and my teacher commented that she had been feeding on that day for inspiration her entire life. This day, during Miss Ruth's 1957 visit to the campus, is a story I want to follow up on.

Proposers Background My primary background is in the visual arts working independently as a painter and sculptor and as a professional illustrator and designer. My years of work with instructional development and faculty support have prepared me to use the tools of technology and multimedia to organize and present this portrait of Phoebe Barr as an exceptional individual who by her energy and grace inspired those around her to reach for the best in themselves in the broader historical context. As a Visual Communications Designer more and more of my energy has been applied to mastering the tools of new technology. Much of my recent work has been as a web designer. The quality of my work is best demonstrated on my web site deborahhughes.com, which is a virtual gallery of my artwork and primary interests. My path intothis application was set through my close association with Phoebe Barr during the last decade of her life. When showing me some of the volumes of her collections, some ten years ago, Phoebe said that perhaps I am the person that could put this all together. I am really bound by a deep responsibility to help interpret and share these materials and some of her wisdom. This sense of responsibility along with a genuine burning interest in the materials I have in my possession will provide me with the motivation to bring this project into form and completion. In 1988 I resumed taking Modern dance classes and participated in courses over the next seven years, which would be the equivalent of forty semester hours in dance coursework. Through this first hand, in-class experience my interest in dance continued to grow. During this seven year period I also had the privilege of Phoebe Barr's company at every dance performance that the University of Alabama had to offer as well as those by visiting companies to the University and in the greater Birmingham area. My curiosity and passion for dance has lead me to seek out the revivals of the early modern companies, Martha Graham, Paul Taylor, JoseÕLimon and Daniel Nagrin as well as the new generation of choreographers who have received notice as emerging leaders such as Tywla Tharpe and Mark Morris. I have spent many rewarding evenings ferreting out what is most experimental in dance following notices in The Village Voice. I am currently reading Jane Sherman's fine book, Denishawn the Enduring Influence, and took special note of her comments on the extreme difficulty and problems fraught with trying to recreate the Denishawn work. My research would most likely take me to the Denishawn collection of the New York Public Library and to JacobÕs Pillow, the still vital dance center founded by Ted Shawn in Lee, Ma.

Proposed Work The multimedia resource I propose to create would be a unique contribution to the Humanities in general and can be utilized by dance educators in survey type courses of the history of dance. I intend to use these materials as a foundation for guest lectures and seminars in the field. The main architecture of the web site will represent the history of Modern Dance including the major personalities and leaders who emerged from Denishawn. The distinctive elements will be the specific and personal content from the letters, photos, etc. of Phoebe Barr. One of the major ideas I hope to bring into focus is not only the impact of the creative crucible Denishawn and the clear, traceable luminaries such as Martha Graham, Doris Humphree and Charles Weidman and their descendent companies but how the flame spread at many levels through individuals like Phoebe Barr who sent its roots out into the academic community in dance departments around the country.

Proposed Schedule (Based on a ten-month timeline.)

Month 1. Review of published Literature

Month 2. Sorting and selection of images and materials

Month 3. Construct working diagram and structure of web site and links. Outlining contents and storyboard for Macromedia Director presentation

Months 4 and 5. Scanning of images, data entry file formatting of material including QuickTime movie segments and animated gifs.

Month 6. Production of auxiliary organizational graphics and design elements.

Month 7and 8. Compiling and building site in web authoring software.

Months 9 and 10. Authoring of the Macromedia presentation and compilation of other resources on the CD (to include video clips, jpeg files of photos and printed material.

Beyond being a practical tool and a valuable archival resource, this completed project could be a living legacy and tribute to Phoebe Barr and her mentors, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn who found dance to be their path and spiritual connection to the divine. The spark that Phoebe would want to pass on is the will to look for the best inside you and the belief that there are many paths to the top of the mountain. Extra stuff: To Do The early Twentieth Century was such a pivotal period in the expansion of all of the arts laying the groundwork for decades of intense exploration. Perhaps the nature of expression in the arts will from that point will be diverse and expansive.