Dance
Historically, modern dance scholarship has followed the contours of the field as defined by John Martin, the revered dance critic for The New York Times,…
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Drama, Theater and Performance Subject Overview
This brief preamble will introduce the kinds of material the reader can expect to find in the entries treating drama, theater, and performance, and suggest…
Bauhaus
In 1919 a young architect named Walter Gropius initiated one of the most modern art schools of the twentieth century in the city of Weimar…
Dadaism
Dada began in Zurich, Switzerland, in the midst of World War I. Several expatriate artists converged in the city to escape the brutal and seemingly…
Futurism
Futurism emerged at the beginning of the twentieth century as a movement that explicitly conceptualized the process of literary and artistic experimentation as part of…
Expressionism
Expressionism was one of the foremost modernist movements to emerge in Europe in the early years of the twentieth-century. It had a profound effect on…
Surrealism Overview
Soupault’s publication of Manifeste du Surréalism in 1924. Rising in the wake of the First World War, Surrealism revolted against a world that had become…
Photography
Ibrahim, Ramli (1953--)
Dancer-choreographer Ramli Ibrahim has a unique heritage as a Muslim who grew up in Malaysia, training in ballet, contemporary dance, and two Indian classical dance…
Baker, Josephine (Freda Josephine McDonald) (1906–1975)
At the height of her career in the late 1920s, Josephine Baker was perhaps the most famous dancer in the world. Her performances of ‘the…
Foxtrot
The foxtrot emerged circa 1914, most likely within African American practices, as a variation on the older duple meter one step popular with dancers since…
Workers Dance League, The
In the midst of the economic and social upheaval of America’s Great Depression, a group of young modern dancers came together in 1932 to form…
Shankar, Uday (1900–1977)
A legendary dancer often credited as the father of Indian modern dance, Uday Shankar was a visual artist and an astute choreographer with a keen…
Gert, Valeska (1892–1978)
Valeska Gert was a dancer, actress, and cabaret artist best known for her radical solo performances during the Weimar Republic. She attracted attention for her…
Itō, Michio (1893–1961)
Michio Itō was a modern dancer and choreographer who worked in Europe, the United States, and Japan. After training at the Dalcroze Institute in Hellerau,…
Denby, Edwin (1903–1983)
Edwin Denby is best remembered as one of the preeminent critics of dance modernism, yet he was also an accomplished poet and an experienced dancer,…
Pomare, Eleo (1937–2008)
Eleo Pomare was a dancer, choreographer, educator, and social activist who spent more than five decades contributing to the development of modern dance. As a…
Kazuo, Ohno (1906–2010)
When Ohno Kazuo died at age 103, he was an international legend memorialized in newspapers around the world as a Japanese modern dancer, a pioneer…
Mercé y Luque, Antonia Rosa (Stage Name: La Argentina; b. 4 September 1888, Buenos Aires, Argentina; d. 18 July 1936, Bayonne, France)
Antonia Rosa Mercé y Luque, known by her stage name La Argentina, was the most celebrated Spanish dancer of the early 20th century. Greatly influenced…
Dupuy, Françoise née Michaud (1925--) and Dupuy, Dominique (1930--)
Françoise and Dominique Dupuy are French dancers, teachers, choreographers, and writers who met in Paris in 1946 and were married in 1951. Along with Jacqueline…
Masābnī, Badī’ah
Badī’ah Masābnī was a professional actress, singer, and dancer from the Levant. She settled in Egypt in the 1920s and eventually opened a highly successful…
Wigman, Mary (1886–1973)
Mary Wigman was among the most important dancers and choreographers in Germany during the first half of the 20th century. As a modernist, she sought…
Lifar, Serge (1905–1986)
A crucial figure in the rehabilitation of ballet at the Paris Opéra, Serge Lifar had a glamorous career as a dancer, choreographer, and intellectual in…
Nagrin, Daniel (1917–2008)
Over his long career, Daniel Nagrin played many roles, on and off stage. A dancer, choreographer, writer, and teacher, he achieved his greatest prominence as…
Kreutzberg, Harald (1902–1968)
Harald Kreutzberg was among the most widely known German dancers from the mid-1930s through the early 1960s, and he was certainly the most famous German…