Origins- Black Modern Dance in America Part 1

We're building a foundation that will make people take Black dance seriously.

Helmsley Winfield, 1933

St. Mark's Church at the Bowery

1922, New York City

                 As the story is told, a fifteen year old girl begs her mother to take her to a dance concert in New York City.  Mother and daughter make their way to St. Marks Church in the Bowery, to watch the beautiful Ruth St. Denis perform The Incense Dance. Ruth St. Denis, born Ruth Dennis in Newark, New Jersey is one of a few dancers performing this new form of American dance. The young girl is enraptured by the dance performance, and writes a note to the lovely Ms. St. Denis. The letter is received, and begins a twenty- year relationship between two seemingly very different people who ought to have very little in common. However at their core, they both share a common love for Modern Dance. This is an untold story of many things: adolescent yearnings, the emergence of a young artist, and a society where political laws often bungled personal bonds between human beings. 

Edna Guy, American Modern Dancer Pioneer

(1907-1982)

Dearest Ms. Ruth,

I daydream and imagine myself dancing. And even now at home working on my lessons, oh how  I wish I was dancing. I have never been so serious about anything in all my world. No other colored girl has ever wanted to do such beautiful things, to lead such a beautiful life.

Your loving friend always,

Edna Guy

 This letter is one of many that Edna Guy and Ruth St. Denis wrote to each other for nearly twenty years, until the sour ending of their friendship. Edna idolized Ms. Ruth, as most aspiring modern dancers did at that time. Ms. Ruth was a very intense artist who had considerable influence over her students. Her school, the Denishawn Academy, was sometimes referred to as cult like. The school (in Los Angeles) trained several dancers who went on to become icons, most notably a young Martha Graham. The school curriculum was a combination of ballet classes, (without shoes), Deslarte exercises, Dalcroze eurhythmics, ethnic dances, and Dance history/ Philosophy.

Ms. Ruth won over a young Edna, with her beautiful dances inspired by India, and later North Africa. The dances were not authentic, but very few people in the audience would know that. The dance that Edna watched that evening, The Incense Dance, was a very sensual dance with lots of undulating movements. Ms. Ruth wore a beautiful costume complete with a headpiece. This was the first time many Westerners were seeing this type of movement, and it was a novelty.

At first Edna and Ms. Ruth maintained a written correspondence, sharing their mutual admiration for dance and the work of Ms. Ruth. Ms. Ruth called Edna, 'girlie' and encouraged Edna to take dance classes. Edna searched for dance classes, but was refused from many dance studios because of her color. She finally located a dance school in Harlem, where she learned entertainment style dance. When Edna wrote to Ms. Ruth about her attempts to find a dance class, Ms. Ruth told her to be patient, and to wait until the right time. Instead of following this advice, a wise Edna asked Ms. Ruth what about your school?

Denishawn Dance School, Los Angeles

Original Denishawan Dance School in New York

Ms. Ruth considered this for many years, and finally admitted Edna Guy into her school some two years after their first encounter. Edna flourished at the school, becoming one of the most successful students. Although she was one of the most spirited performers, Ms. Ruth restricted her performances to those at the school. She was not ready to have a Black performer dance with her company in public.

In a few short years, Edna Guy went from being a young school girl from Summit, New Jersey to a serious dance student receiving the best modern dance training in America. She immersed herself in her studies, and managed to complete a few classes at Hunter College before she left for the West Coast.

 Around this time, Edna Guy began searching for a deeper connection to her artistry as a dancer. Studying at Denishawn was a dream come true, and Edna travelled with the company on tour. From 1928-1929 she was Ms. Ruth's personal assistant and seamstress.The reality of American attitudes towards race and dance kept her and other Black artists confined to narrow roles and opportunities in their field. Edna's mother passed away in 1925, and she drew from her relationship with her mother as a source for her creativity. She recalled the Negro spirituals her mother used to sing to her in New Jersey, and she began choreographing dances to those songs.

Edna was a modern dancer, within a society that did not fully accept the humanity of the Negro dancer. She looked up to Ruth St. Denis as a mentor, teacher, and a substitute mother. The relationship that was once an opportunity to grow was now beginning to restrict her. St. Denis did not approve of Edna's foray into Negro spiritual dance, and neither did the students at the school. It made things very uncomfortable at the school, and finally St. Denis decided to dismiss Edna from the school in a letter. Edna was twenty-three years old.

Cotton Club Dancers, 1930

When Edna returned to the East Coast, she struggled to find her place in the dance community. Without parents to guide her, or a formal college education to secure her economic survival, she drifted from job to job. Dancing in the chorus line was an option for Black dancers, but only if their skin was pale or very light brown. Entertainment dancing in a popular musical comedy or Black musical Revue was something that did not interest Edna; she was a Dance artist.

Edna's persistence to her art form paid off. In 1931, she and Helmsley Winfield organized the first night of Negro Concert dance in America.She and Ruth St. Denis had repaired their damaged friendship, and St. Denis may have even attended the concert. The concert was a success, and Edna Guy and Black concert dance were officially 'on the map'.

Edna Guy and Helmsley Winfield in The Wedding, 1931

Edna Guy continued organizing dance concerts, teaching, and at one time served on the American Dance Association Board. She was active in the dance community until 1940, when she experienced personal health problems. Later she married, and moved outside of New York City.

Edna finally received the Public Recognition she deserved in Free to Dance, a PBS documentary about Black Dance in America. Her name is not as well known as Martha Graham or Katherine Dunham, but she played a 'pivotal' role in Modern Dance. She refused to be defined by society's stereotypes of Black Artists of her time. Edna Guy proved something that America had a hard time believing about Negroes, that they were human, complex, and more than caricatures. Edna Guy's work began to legitmize the Negro as a serious artist in the Performing Arts. The work of Alvin Ailey, Talley Beatty and many others continued opening the door to more opportunities, but Edna Guy definitely put the key into the lock.

What is a Modern dancer?
A Modern dancer is first and foremost an artist, not an entertainer, or a social dancer. Modern Dance uses the aesthetics of human movement and experience to create dance that is artistic and expressive. A Modern dancer is someone who defies the stereotypes that dance must be classical, ethnic, or social.

When did American dance become American?
Early American Modern Dance Pioneers were inspired by Asian and European culture. The first dance artists to draw from their authentic experience in America was ironically Negro dancers.

What are Dalcroze eurhythmics?
Emile Jaques Dalcroze created this method of music education that combines teaching music concepts with movement exercises.

What are Deslarte exercises?
Created by Francois Deslarte, these exercises connect human gesture and movements to emotion and feeling.

How did American laws affect the career opportunities for Black Dancers?
Opportunities for Black entertainers were very limited. At one time, Blacks were not allowed onstage, even in Minstrels. Once minstrels lost their popularity, Black men were hired, while Black women were not.
Those entertainers who were employed in the entertainment industry received second billing to their white counterparts. Their accommodations were always second best, from hotels, to theater entrances- always through the service entry, using the service elevator, etc. Some Black artists drifted to Europe, where they found success and less social discrimination.

How did societal attitudes towards race affect Black Dancers?

Negroes can not be expected to do dances designed for another race.
John Martin, New York Times, 1933

Black artists in general, fought against social stereotypes that limited their creativity. It was widely believed that Blacks were suited for arts that reflected African characteristics. Black writers, composers, singers, actors and dancers all fought to have their work valued without consideration of their race.



Original Show Program from Edna Guy's Concert at Carnegie Hall

Watch this feature documentary on Black Dance in America that highlights Edna Guy's story.

Free to Dance, PBS

References for this blog

Black Dance in America, James Haskins, 1992
Ballet and Modern Dance, Susan Au, 2002

More articles on Edna Guy from the Internet

Theresa Ruth Howard
http://www.dancemagazine.com/issues/July-2010/Rant--Rave-And-Now-a-Word-From-the-Darker-Side
Susan Clark
http://www.neh.gov/news/humanities/2001-01/freetodance.html