Biography:
Doris Humphrey was born in 1895, to
a journalist father and concert pianist mother. She started a rather successful dance school in her hometown
immediately after graduating High School, but chose to further her career in
1917 by moving to Los Angeles to work with Denishawn. While working as a dancer at Denishawn, she was also given
the opportunity to teach and choreograph.
In 1928 Humphrey, along with Charles Weidman, left Denishawn and moved
to New York where they became integral parts of modern dance. Doris sought to push beyond the
superficiality of Denishawn and explore the possibilities of the human body. This led to her technique based on fall
and recovery. She retired as a
dancer in 1944 due to severe arthritis in her hips. Despite her inability to dance she continued her career as
artistic director of Jose Limon's company. She finished writing her book The Art of Making Dances in 1958, and passed away in December of
that same year.
The Humphrey Legacy:
Doris Humphrey played an integral
role in the birth of American Modern Dance. After spending years with the Denishawn Company she found
their obsession with the Orient to be quite superficial, which spurred her
departure with Charles Weidman from the company. After leaving they started their own company and school in
New York, with the intent to avoid this shallow dancing. She strove to create work that was
appropriate and relatable to contemporary America. They established “the esthetic and audience base for their
innovative dance. They created works addressed to contemporary concerns.”(2) She was interested in returning dance to
pure movement. This is
particularly evident in her 1928 work, Water
Study. The dancers performed
in minimal clothing accompanied by the live sounds of their own breath.
Perhaps her most prominent role in
history was her theory of fall and recovery. After hours in front a mirror she came to the conclusion
that movement falls on a spectrum between “motionless balance and falling
imbalance incapable of recovery”.(1)
She understood that each movement away from gravity requires a
compensation to regain balance and avoid falling. This understanding led to a dramatic utilization of gravity
in both her choreographic works and her technique.
In her final years before death
Doris wrote The Art of Making Dances; a
book that is considered to be the first modern book on choreography. It is a guide, not only for dance, but
also for the performing arts in general.
Despite the fact that Doris left this world over fifty years ago, her book
is still in wide circulation. Her technique, as well as her repertoire, continues
to be taught and performed around the world.
Works Cited:
1.
"Doris Humphrey (American Dancer)." Encyclopedia Britannica Online. Encyclopedia Britannica. Web. 16
Feb. 2014. <http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/276354/Doris-Humphrey>.
2.
"Biography." The Doris Humphrey
Society Biography Comments. Web. 16 Feb. 2014.
<http://www.dorishumphrey.org/the-early-years/>.
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