Doris Humphrey facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Doris Humphrey
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Humphrey and dance partner Charles Weidman
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| Born | October 17, 1895 Oak Park, Illinois, United States
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| Died | December 29, 1958 (aged 63) |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Dance and choreography |
| Movement | Modern/contemporary dance |
| Spouse(s) |
Charles Woodford
(m. 1932) |
Doris Batcheller Humphrey (October 17, 1895 – December 29, 1958) was an American dancer and choreographer. She was a very important person in the early days of modern dance.
Doris Humphrey, along with Martha Graham, helped create new ways of dancing. They explored how the body moves and developed techniques that dancers still learn today. Many of her dances were written down using a special system called dance notation. This means her work can still be taught and performed even now.
Contents
Early Life and First Steps in Dance
Doris Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois. She grew up in Chicago, Illinois. Her father, Horace, was a journalist. Her mother, Julia, was a trained concert pianist.
Her mother encouraged her love for dance. Doris studied with famous ballet teachers. She also learned from Mary Wood Hinman, who taught dance at her school. While still in high school, Doris went on a dance tour in the western states. Her mother played music for her.
When she was 18, in 1913, Doris opened her own dance school. Her mother helped manage it and played the piano. The school was very successful. It offered different dance styles for children and young adults.
In 1917, Doris moved to California. She joined the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. There, she studied, performed, taught, and learned how to create dances. Some of her dances from this time, like Valse Caprice and Soaring, are still performed today. She stayed with Denishawn for ten years. She even toured Asia and performed in American vaudeville shows.
Personal Life
Doris Humphrey was not very tall, about 5 feet 3 inches. She had a slender build. In 1932, she married Charles Woodford, who was a merchant. They had one son, Charles Humphrey Woodford, born in 1934.
Dancing Through the Great Depression
In 1928, Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman left the Denishawn School. They moved to New York City. They wanted to explore new dance ideas. Martha Graham also left Denishawn around this time. Humphrey and Graham each developed their own unique dance styles.
Doris Humphrey's main idea was "fall and recovery." This explored how the human body reacts to gravity. She called it "the arc between two deaths." It meant moving away from balance and then finding it again. This idea showed the struggle for stability and giving in to gravity.
Her early dances included Air for the G String and Water Study. Unlike Denishawn, which looked for inspiration from other countries, Humphrey found ideas in America. For example, The Shakers was about an 18th-century American religious group.
The Humphrey-Weidman Company did well even during the Great Depression. They toured America and created new dances. These dances were about current events, not old stories. In the mid-1930s, Humphrey created the "New Dance Trilogy." These dances looked at the busy lives of people like business owners and athletes.
Humphrey also took part in the Federal Dance Project (FDP). This program was created in the 1930s to help dancers financially. It was the first national program to support dance in America.
Doris Humphrey also worked on Broadway. She choreographed for shows like School for Husbands in 1933.
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In the 1940s, Doris Humphrey worked closely with José Limón. He was one of her former students. In 1944, she stopped performing because of arthritis. She then became the artistic director for the José Limón Dance Company. She created many dances for them, like Day on Earth and Night Spell. Limón and his company continued to develop her dance style.
One of her last dances was Dawn in New York. It showed her skill with large groups of dancers. She also taught at important dance schools. These included The Bennington School of the Dance and The Juilliard School.
In 1952, Humphrey started a new dance company for children. It was called The Merry-Go-Rounders.
She passed away in New York City on December 29, 1958. She was buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.
Dance Ideas and Famous Works
Doris Humphrey had special ideas about how people move. Her "Fall and Recovery" theory was central to all her dances. She saw it as the movement between losing balance and regaining it. When you move away from your center, you need to adjust to come back to it. The bigger the movement, the bigger the recovery needed.
Humphrey believed that dance should show emotion. But she also thought dance could be more like a study of human interactions. She wanted dance to make people think, not just entertain them. She often used abstract ideas in her dances. This meant she didn't always show specific characters or events directly. For example, Two Ecstatic Themes (1931) showed her feelings about love. Yet, it still showed a strong, independent woman.
Some of her most famous works include:
- Color Harmony (1928): This was her first big show after leaving Denishawn. She and Charles Weidman performed it.
- Water Study (1928): In this dance, she experimented with dancing without music. Dancers moved to their natural breathing. They showed the natural flow of water.
- Drama of Motion (1930): This was another experiment without music. She wanted dance to be strong on its own. She focused on how movements looked and felt.
- The Shakers (1931): This is her best-known work. It brought music and emotion back. It was inspired by a Christian group called the Shakers.
Legacy and Lasting Impact
After Doris Humphrey passed away in 1958, her book, The Art of Making Dances, was published. In it, she shared her thoughts on dance and creating choreography. She wrote about how dance had changed a lot in the 20th century.
Her "Fall and Recovery" theory is still used by many choreographers today. It's a key part of modern dance training.
Many of Doris Humphrey's dances are written down using Labanotation. This is a special way to record dance movements. The Dance Notation Bureau has documented 35 of her dances. This helps future dancers learn and perform her work.
A book called Days on Earth: The Dance of Doris Humphrey was published in 1993. It argues that Humphrey was one of the most important figures in modern dance.
In 1987, Doris Humphrey was added to the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame. This shows her lasting importance in the world of dance.
A street in her hometown of Oak Park is named after her grandfather.
See also
- List of dancers
- Women in dance
