Loading...
Creator
Shawn, Ted, 1891-1972
Call number
(S) *MGZMC-Res. 31
Physical description
ca. 6,200 items in 770 folders
Language
English
Preferred Citation

Shawn, Ted, 1891-1972. Ted Shawn Collection, (S) *MGZMC-Res. 31, Jerome Robbins Dance Division, The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts.

Repository
Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Access to materials
Request an in-person research appointment.Restrictions apply

The Ted Shawn Collection documents Ted Shawn's personal life as well as his career as a dancer, choreographer, and writer from 1903 to 1971. Although the bulk of the material dates from 1960 to 1971, there is a significant amount for the years 1920 through 1959. There is very little material prior to 1920. The collection is divided into nine major sections: Correspondence; Ted Shawn's Annual Newsletters; Unpublished Manuscript of Ted Shawn's Autobiography; Written Works by Ted Shawn; Written Works about Ted Shawn; Notes for Ted Shawn's Thirty-Three Years of American Dance;Denishawn Dancers and Ted Shawn and his Men Dancers; Delsarte System of Expression; Miscellaneous.

Biographical/historical information

Ted Shawn (1891-1972), well known for his pioneering efforts in American modern dance, began dancing as a means of physical therapy. In his third year of studying for the ministry at the University of Denver, he contracted a case of diphtheria, which left him paralyzed from the waist down. While he was nursing himself back to health, he realized that dancing would become his life-time career.

Shawn's first teacher was Hazel Wallack in Denver, with whom he studied ballet and ballroom exhibition dancing. At the same time he worked independently and began to perform his own choreographic works. In 1912 Shawn moved to Los Angeles, where he established a school and small performing company. The following year he and his dancing partner, Norma Gould, embarked with their company of Interpretive Dancers upon a cross-country tour and reached New York after nineteen performances.

While in New York Shawn arranged his first meeting with Ruth St. Denis. He had seen her perform in Denver and was convinced that they should work together. During their first meeting they discussed their artistic ideas and ambitions, and Shawn returned the next day to demonstrate his dancing. He was then hired by Miss St. Denis' brother and manager to be her partner. On April 13, 1914, Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn began a tour of the southern United States. In August of the same year they were married.

In 1915 they founded the first Denishawn school in Los Angeles with the intent of providing students with a diversified dance education. They believed that a dancer should learn all styles of dance rather than concentrating on one form; therefore, they offered classes in ballet, modern, ethnic, and creative dance. Within a few years Shawn and Miss St. Denis had established Denishawn schools throughout the United States. They built up an extensive repertory of spiritual, ethnic, character, and “music visualization” dances, which they performed with their company of Denishawn Dancers on tours of the United States, Canada, Europe, and the Far East from 1915-1932. Some of their dancers, including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman, later went on to develop the field of modern dance. In 1932 Denishawn disbanded, and Shawn and Miss St. Denis pursued separate careers.

Shawn established a company of all male dancers in an effort to prove that dancing was an acceptable art form for men. They rehearsed, choreographed, and trained at Jacob's Pillow, Shawn's farm in Lee, Massachusetts, and performed throughout the United States from 1933 to 1940. Shawn continued to perform, generally as a solo artist, until 1962, but after 1940 his efforts became more concentrated upon dance in education. He established the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival and University of the Dance which, by combining daily classes and evening performances, became the first intensive summer dance program in the United States. Shawn's primary aim again was to provide students with a well-rounded dance background, which he achieved by inviting performers and instructors from all over the world.

In addition to his work at Jacob's Pillow, Shawn lectured at universities and other institutions throughout the United States. During his lifetime he also published nine books, including: Ruth St. Denis: Pioneer and Prophet(1920), The American Ballet(1926), Gods who Dance(1929), Fundamentals of a Dance Education(1935), Dance We Must(1940), How Beautiful Upon the Mountain(1944), Every Little Movement(1954), Thirty-three Years of American Dance(1959), and One Thousand and One Night Stands(with Gray Poole, 1960).

Shawn continued to direct Jacob's Pillow every summer and also pursue his career as a scholarly speaker and writer until his death in 1972.

Scope and arrangement

The Ted Shawn Collection documents Ted Shawn's personal life as well as his career as a dancer, choreographer, and writer from 1903 to 1971. Although the bulk of the material dates from 1960 to 1971, there is a significant amount for the years 1920 through 1959. There is very little material prior to 1920. The collection is divided into nine major sections: Correspondence; Ted Shawn's Annual Newsletters; Unpublished Manuscript of Ted Shawn's Autobiography; Written Works by Ted Shawn; Written Works about Ted Shawn; Notes for Ted Shawn's Thirty-Three Years of American Dance;Denishawn Dancers and Ted Shawn and his Men Dancers; Delsarte System of Expression; Miscellaneous.|||The following abbreviations are used throughout the folder list:

  • TS: Ted Shawn
  • RSD: Ruth St. Denis
  • misc.: miscellaneous
  • n.d.: no date

When noting the correspondents, the name of the individual or individuals writing the letter is listed first followed by a slash (/). Following the slash is the name of the individual or individuals to whom the letter is written.|||Example: TS/RSD indicates a letter written by Ted Shawn to Ruth St. Denis.

The Ted Shawn collection is arranged in nine series:

  • I. CORRESPONDENCE
    approximately 6000 items
  • II. TED SHAWN'S ANNUAL NEWSLETTERS
    1945-1971

    (Gift of Walter Terry)

    • (16 items) Part of a series of letters sent out by Shawn each February in lieu of a Christmas greeting. They highlight events in his life from the preceding year. (Letters from 11 years are missing: 1946, 1948, 1954, 1960-66, 1969.)

  • III. UNPUBLISHED MANUSCRIPT OF TED SHAWN'S AUTOBIOGRAPHY
    • 10 items Typescript for parts 2 through 10, 1922-1945 (part 6 is missing). Shawn used an edited version of this proposed book for his One Thousand and One Night Stands.Part 5 is an edited version of Ted Shawn's correspondence with Lucien Price, 1933-1938, which mainly relates to Jacob's Pillow and Ted Shawn and his Men Dancers (for a complete set of this correspondence see section IA of this collection).
  • IV. WRITTEN WORKS BY TED SHAWN
    • IV. WRITTEN WORKS BY TED SHAWN, 1910-1941 12 items Includes short stories, poems, and motion picture scenarios which Shawn wrote while he was a student at the University of Denver, 1910-1911; also includes an article, “Theatre as a Triune Art” (Direction.Darien, Ct. Apr-May, 1941) and other miscellaneous writings.
  • V. WRITTEN WORKS ABOUT TED SHAWN

    • V. WRITTEN WORKS ABOUT TED SHAWN, 1926-1950 15 items Includes 5 short articles (1930-1940) about Shawn's accomplishments as a dancer; 2 interviews with Shawn (1941); reviews of the Denishawn Dancers in the Orient (1926); reviews of Shawn in Australia (1947) and Shawn in Boston (1930); and other miscellaneous writings.

  • VI. NOTES FOR TED SHAWN'S THIRTY-THREE YEARS OF AMERICAN DANCE
    • VI. NOTES FOR TED SHAWN'S THIRTY-THREE YEARS OF AMERICAN DANCE approximately 10 items Shawn's notes for his book, published in Pittsfield, Ma. in 1959. Includes a chronology of dance events from 1927 to 1956.
  • VII. DENISHAWN COMPANY; SHAWN AND HIS MEN DANCERS

    (Diaries, Route lists, Financial records)

    • VII. DENISHAWN DANCERS; TED SHAWN AND HIS MEN DANCERS approximately 30 items Ted Shawn's diaries closed until 1982. Includes route lists, financial records, and diaries kept by Ted Shawn during American and Oriental tours with the Danishawn Dancers (1915-1930); also includes route lists from Shawn's company of men dancers (1935-1942).
  • VIII. DELSARTE SYSTEM OF EXPRESSION

    (Notes, Lectures, Manuscripts)

    • VIII. DELSARTE SYSTEM OF EXPRESSION approximately 100 items Includes 2 typescripts, book orders, reviews, advertisements, and editing notes for Ted Shawn's book, Every Little Movement(1954). Also includes information collected by Ted Shawn regarding Delsarte, such as: notes, lectures, and manuscripts of Ted Shawn, Grace Hickox, Henriette Hovey, and others; magazine articles; excerpts from books and masters theses; and a copy of Florence James Adams: A Sketch of her Life and Workby Joseph Anthony Milburn.
  • IX. MISCELLANEOUS
    • IX. MISCELLANEOUS approximately 10 items Includes materials relating to some of the later performances of Ruth St. Denis (1944-1957) and miscellaneous items from relatives of Shawn and St. Denis.

Administrative information

Source of acquisition

Gifts; one segment purchased. Ted Shawn was the major donor. Other donors include Grace Badorek, Gray Johnson Poole, and Walter Terry. The Ted Shawn/Arthur Todd correspondence was purchased from Al Pischl. Received: 1959-1972.

Processing information

Processed by Nancy M. Shawcross and Wendy Laakso.

Using the collection

Location

Jerome Robbins Dance Division
New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center
40 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY 10023-7498
Third Floor

Access restrictions

Partially restricted; For folders which are permission required or closed, consult register.