February 4: Today in Dance

Born Today: Edwin Denby

Considered one of the finest writers of dance criticism, Edwin Denby (1903–1983) was also a published poet. He was educated at Harvard and at the University of Vienna, where he was introduced to dance and he performed for a time in Europe. Upon relocating to New York City, he befriended artists and poets such as Jackson Pollock and Frank O’Hara. Denby replaced Walter Terry (1913–1982) as dance critic during part of WWII at the New York Herald Tribune and became an early admirer of choreographer George Balanchine (1904–1983).

Also Born Today: Dance director Pierre Gardel (1758–1840), took over after the death of his brother, Maximilien Gardel (1741–1787), and directed the Paris Opera Ballet for 40 years, and his student Carlo Blasis (1797–1878) dedicated The Code of Terpsichore (1828), the first catalog of ballet technique, to Gardel. Ballerina Franceska Mann (1917–1943) died at the Auschwitz concentration camp — it is said that she killed a Nazi guard with his own pistol and caused an uprising of female prisoners. Indian Kathak dancer Birju Maharaj (1938-) is part of a family of dancers and is also a vocalist and musician. Dance author and critic Jennifer Dunning (1942-) wrote for the New York Times from 1977–2008. British postmodern dancer Rosemary Butcher (1947–2016) worked with groundbreaking Judson Dance Theatre choreographers in the 1960s, returning to work in the UK in the early 1970s.

— — — — — — — — — — — —

Ballet Premiere: La Bayadère in 1877

— — — — — — —

Check out more about dance at: https://www.dawndavisloring.com/todayindance

Dawn Davis Loring is delighted to announce the publication of her first book on dance: Dance Appreciation, co-authored by Julie L. Pentz. Available from Human Kinetics and on Amazon and other booksellers.

Open Mind, Insert Dance