Dance As a Project of the Early Modern Avant-Garde Elizabeth M
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Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2005 Dance as a Project of the Early Modern Avant-Garde Elizabeth M. Drake-Boyt Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact [email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Dance as a Project of the Early Modern Avant-garde By Elizabeth M. Drake-Boyt A Dissertation submitted to the Program in the Humanities In partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Degree Awarded: Spring Semester, 2005 Copyright © 2005 Elizabeth M. Drake-Boyt All Rights Reserved The members of the Committee approve the dissertation of Elizabeth M. Drake-Boyt defended on the 28th of February, 2005. Anita Gonzalez Professor Co-directing Dissertation Tricia Young Professor Co-directing Disseration Ray Fleming Committee Member Approved: David Johnson Chair, Program in the Humanities Donald Foss Dean, College of Arts and Sciences The Office of Graduate Studies has verified and approved the above named committee members. ii This Labor is dedicated to my Beloved Charly in deep reverence for his contributions of wit, humor and above all humanity iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to commend the support and encouragement for this enterprise that was extended to me by the Committee Members of my dissertation; co-directors Dr. Anita Gonzalez and Dr. Tricia Young, and Humanities Representative Dr. Raymond Fleming. Dr. Sally Sommer additionally offered valuable commentary and guidance. Professors Jack Clark and Patty Philips of the Dance Department at Florida State University assisted with the movement analysis discussion, and Professor Clark was directly responsible for access to and commentaries on, his video reconstructions of Incense and Gnossenne used in this study. Mr. Norton Owen made available to me invaluable access to the archives at Jacob’s Pillow. The first-hand recollections of Denishawn dancer and writer, Jane Sherman, enriched this discussion of the artistic developments of Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. On more than one occasion, the interlibrary loan staff members of the Daviss County Public Library of Owensboro, Kentucky, went out of their way to see to it that books and articles needed for this work were speedily sent to me. Finally, I would most like to acknowledge the contributions of friends and family who kept me on track through difficult times, and celebrated with me in accomplishment. To one and all, my grateful thanks are offered. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT………………………………………………………………………………iv INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………………..1 CHAPTER ONE Elements of the Avant-garde: European Beginnings…….............25 CHAPTER TWO Ruth St. Denis and Incense……………………………………….69 CHAPTER THREE Ted Shawn and Gnossienne……………………………………..116 CHAPTER FOUR Vaslav Nijinsky and L’Après-Midi d’un Faune…..…………….168 CHAPTER FIVE Arts and Popular Entertainments: American Developments…..214 CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………………260 APPENDIX……………………………………………………………………………..274 GLOSSARY OF TERMS………………………………………………………………286 REFERENCES……….………………………………………………………………...302 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH….………………………………………………………..312 v ABSTRACT This investigation presents an analysis of three expressive dance works created between 1900 and 1920 as projects of the Early Modern avant-garde. The dances chosen were Incense (1906) by Ruth St. Denis, Gnossienne (1919) by Ted Shawn, and L’Après-Midi d’un Faune by Vaslav Nijinsky. While Shawn and St. Denis were American dance artists at the forefront of modern dance development, Nijinsky presented both a European cultural and ballet tradition response to the avant-garde. These dances were chosen from the standpoint of their similarities. All three are short, emotionally intense, and referent to internal conditions significant to the artist-creator. Each dance centrally features the artist-creator as the intermediary between the work and the audiences and addresses avant-garde concerns in Early Modernism. And these dances were formed as self- contained modular units capable of packaging and marketing in context with both popular entertainments and serious concert art works. Five issues engaged in the avant-garde response to Modernism are delineated for the purposes of this study. These issues are exoticism, spiritualism, distortions of time and space, naturalism, and responses to technological advances. Each of the three dances is discussed in relation to these issues, bringing them into theoretical discussion with other mediums. This scope of analysis facilitates discussion of dance as a culturally expressive behavior, and the close relationships between European and American developments in decorative design (Art Nouveau and Art Deco). The treatment of the definition of Modernism permits comparison of the similarities and differences among a wide range of avant-garde expressions and clarifies the dynamics of exchange between popular and serious performing art venues. vi INTRODUCTION “Why, even the dances seen in our father’s time were unlike those of today and it will always be so because men are such lovers of novelty.” Arbeau: Orchesography, 1589. This study undertakes a close, analytical examination of three early Twentieth Century Euro-American dances as cultural indicators of the avant-garde in Early Modernism1. Ruth St. Denis’ (1880-1968) The Incense (1906), Ted Shawn’s (1891-1972) Gnossienne (1919), and Vaslav Nijinsky’s (1885-1950) Afternoon of a Faun (1912) are examples of expressive art dance in this broad cultural project. These dances address Western social indicators such as gender (the dances were created by two men and one woman), stylistic form (ballet and modern dance) and nationality (two artists are American, and one is European2). Beyond differences of gender, training, cultural background, and creative processes, it is the intent of this investigation to examine how meaning is conveyed through the dances. To facilitate an understanding of how these dances contribute to the on-going process of the avant-garde, they are presented as texts carrying symbolic meaning relative to other contemporary (1900-1920) performing and visual arts. Painting and sculpture (Chapter One), and film and stage venues of opera, theatre, and vaudeville (Chapter Five) frame considerations on the creation and reception of these dances. Incense, Gnossienne, and Faune draw upon traditional artistic conventions as a source of validation for their separation from the dictates of those conventions. As avant-garde works they also represent culturally-signifying events in the process of restructuring relationships between power and meaning. This examination attempts an understanding of how these three innovative dance works resonate with the avant-garde impetus of Early Modernism to reveal coded social meanings which might otherwise remain hidden. This type of broad, interdisciplinary approach is not without risk; not only must the terminology be used with precision and consistency, but the manner of interpreting the dances in the search for meaning must be clear. Dance writing that attempts to bring the art in conceptual or ideological comparison with other modern arts confronts elusive reference: Establishing precise parallels between modern dance and modern painting, modern music, and modern literature proves difficult because Modern dancers have tended to use “modern” as a synonym for “new” or “creative” and they have prized experimentation. Yet they have never subscribed for long to any ideology (Anderson: 4). 1 But the effort proves useful because avant-garde aspects of Early Modernism appeared with some consistency in a broad range of venues. As will be argued in this study, similar avant- garde characteristics appeared in both art and entertainment (Glossary) venues across the Atlantic. Collectively, these arts influenced—and were influenced by—each other and the larger cultural milieu in which they were created. While some aspects of Early Modernism (Glossary) clung to a conservative response to the challenges of the Twentieth Century, the avant-garde criticized3 traditional structures in an attempt to find new responses to new conditions. These dances provide a rich source of discourse in the effort to understand these conflicting perspectives. The term avant-garde refers to “the foremost position, or vanguard” of an attack (Glossary). In this case, the attack is against entrenched middle-class expectations on the order and place of works of art. In the act of disrupting the cultural construction of that order, avant- garde art draws its public—often grudgingly and with initially hostile or dismissive reactions— into new relationships with experiential performance. The results of these experiments were reflected in a continual flow of ideas between artistic mediums, and between entertainments and classical arts. Although multitudes of “isms” describe many different art movements actively participating in avant-garde projects, such designations are presented in this study to frame rather than define Early Modernism. The focus falls upon five integrated concerns in which all avant-garde works of Early Modernism engage, including the dances Gnossienne, Incense and Faune. The first and perhaps most obvious of these elements is the way in which avant-garde works at this time utilized traditional tropes of exotic themes (Glossary). Ruth St. Denis created The Incense based on a Hindu East-Indian ritual of worship, establishing herself as an