Abstract
The Ruth St. Denis Collection (1916-1986) contains materials relating to the St. Denis School of Dance in Los Angeles, California. Included are scrapbooks containing magazine cutouts from early 20th century performers and celebrities and programs featuring St. Denis or performances honoring her memory.
Finding Aid PDF
Date
Extent
Related People/Corporations
Scope and Contents Note
The Ruth St. Denis Collection (1916-1986) contains materials relating to the St. Denis School of Dance in Los Angeles, California. Included are scrapbooks containing magazine cutouts from early 20th century performers and celebrities and programs featuring St. Denis or performances honoring her memory.
Access Note
Collection is open for research.
Publication Rights
Materials in this collection may be protected by copyrights and other rights. See Reproductions and Use on the UNLV Special Collections and Archives website for more information about reproductions and permissions to publish.
Arrangement
Materials remain in original order.
Biographical / Historical Note
Modern dance pioneer Ruth St. Denis, nee Ruth Dennis, was born on January 20, 1879 in Newark, New Jersey. Her training began as a child with the practice of physical exercises developed by Francois Delsarte. As a teenager, she appeared in Broadway musicals and was a protégé of David Belasco, a theatrical producer. She combined spirituality, eastern culture, and religion in her dance routines. Christian themes were also explored and depicted in her works.
In 1914, she married dancer Ted Shawn and they headed dance companies that performed around the world. They formed Denishawn, which was a dance company, a school with branches across the country, and a concept of dance.
St. Denis continued to perform until she passed away at the age of 89 on July 21, 1968.
Source:
Thom Hecht, "Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) America’s Divine Dancer," last accessed June 22, 2018, http://www.danceheritage.org/treasures/stdenis_essay_hecht.pdf
Preferred Citation
Ruth St. Denis Collection, 1916-1986. MS-00249. Special Collections and Archives, University Libraries, University of Nevada, Las Vegas. Las Vegas, Nevada.
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Acquisition Note
Materials were donated in 1985 by the Ruth St. Denis Foundation, Inc.; accession number 85-112.
Processing Note
In 2018, as part of an archival backlog elimination project, Joyce Moore arranged the materials, wrote the finding aid and entered the data into ArchivesSpace.