LUCAS HOVING: THE CIRCLE THAT GOES AROUND by Jacques J. Burgering submitted to the Faculty of the College of Arts and Sciences of the American University in Partial Fullfillment of The Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Dance Dean 1J.th.i' College 2($' Date ~ ~~ 1995 The American University Washington, D.C. 20016 ,AMERICAN UNIVERSITY UBRARY~i UMI Number: 1472220 INFORMATION TO USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleed-through, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if unauthorized copyright material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMI® UMI Microform 14 72220 Copyright 2009 by ProQuest LLC All rights reserved. This microform edition is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 © COPYRIGHT BY JACQUES J. BURGERING 1995 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED DEDICATED to My parents, Jan Burgering and Ria Burgering-van Haasteren, and to our Creator. LUCAS HOVING: THE CIRCLE THAT GOES AROUND Biography of a Dutch-American Dancer BY Jacques J. Burgering ABSTRACT Lucas Hoving was a major force in the development of European and American modern dance after World War II. This work contains a biographical description in Lucas Hoving's efforts to give dance, and modern dance in particular, a more humanistic content and image. Lucas Hoving was the first man after Jose Limon to enter the Jose Limon Dance Company in 1948. This gave Limon the opportunity to develop his choreography through the use of opposite and complementary characters. The two men developed a relationship on stage unusual in the history of contemporary dance. Subconsciously, through his dancing, Lucas Hoving made a major contribution to the emancipation of the male dancer. Through his sincerity, his open mind, his child-like approach to life and dance, Lucas Hoving was able to create roles reflecting the inner struggles of human beings on stage; that happened in his own performance, and through the dancers on whom he set his choreography. In his teaching, Lucas Hoving iii managed to take his students by the hand, and guide them through their exploration of movement. He was with them when searching for and discovering freedom in movement, and when trying to create their own voice, their own movement vocabulary. His greatness resides in his ability to approach and reach modern dance students, colleagues and audiences on a human level. He succeeded in exchanging the deeper experiences every human being has through movement, and encouraging people to develop a real voice of their own. Because Lucas Roving's roots lay in The Netherlands, and his growth as a mature artist and inspiring teacher took place in the United States of America, Lucas Hoving was able to integrate the best of two worlds in a language of his own. Throughout his long career, touring, performing and teaching all over the world Lucas Hoving kept fertilizing dance worlds on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thinking about writing a thesis is one thing, executing the necessary work involved is something else. There is even a major difference in doing the research, and organizing your findings on paper. For some people in my environment, my work on this extensive research and writing has become part of their lives as well. They shared with me the many moments of despair, joy, tension, and anxiety. They also tried to keep up with the phases of this writing process, what I normally would try to express in movement. For all of them, but for me in particular, writing this thesis was a coming together of two worlds: the past as a Dutch academic, a social-economic historian, and the present, as an "American" modern dancer. These are the many people to whom I owe gratitude and for whom I have deep respect. Dr. Naima Prevots, for her seemingly never ending energy, academic merit and insights in dance, combined with a continuous effort to encourage, guide and question the paths I took, in an effort to let me find my own way. Maryse Jacobs - for the love and life in dance we share, the ideas, the dialogue, the brainstorms, the times she iv functioned as a sounding board, and for the patience of living together in a "thesis-atmosphere". Jan Burgering and Ria Burgering-Van Haasteren - for giving me life, love and understanding, forever reminding me of my roots. Lucas Hoving - for his humor, his time and attention, for being an enlightening and inspiring grandfather in modern dance, for his coaching in my role as "The Son", in Doris Humphrey' Ruins and Visions. Cheryl Yonker - for sharing all her insights in the life of Lucas Hoving over the past ten years, as a studnet, dancer and caretaker. Ann Murphy - for her encouragement in creative writing and the exchange of thoughts about experiences with Lucas Hoving. Dola de Jong - for her enthusiasm in sharing her insights as a Dutch woman, dancer, writer, and life-time friend of Lucas Hoving. Carla Maxwell - for sharing her thoughts, insights, knowledge and experience in dance and with Lucas Hoving. v Julius Petty - for being a friend, sharing his printer and paper. Kathy Ortiz - for being a friend, and giving me a computer to write, re-write, re-write, correct and finish this thesis. Joke van de Krol - for showing me "the way", to dance. Chris Daanen - for everlasting comraderie. Jan Vesters - for warmth and intellectual support. Karin Sorbi - for sharing her journey through dance and life. Tjitske Broersma - for being.my "Godmother" in dance. And ... to all the dancers with whom I could share my dancing, my training, performances, and thoughts about Lucas Hoving, especially Andree Gingras and Beryl Henzy. vi CONTENTS ABSTRACT.............................................. ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS . iv CHAPTER I. DISCOVERY OF THE DANCE ...................... 1 II. THE BIG CITY: AMSTERDAM ..................... 8 III. JOOSS ....................................... 28 IV. A DANCER AT WAR ............................. 53 V. LUCAS HOVING AND JOSE LIMON. THE BEGINNING: 1948-1949..................... 69 VI. CONTINUING COLLABORATION, 1950-1957. YEARS OF SELF EXPRESSION THROUGH PERFORMANCE. 84 VII. NEW DIRECTIONS, 1957-1971. FINDING A PATH OF HIS OWN.................... 99 VIII. THE TEACHING OF LUCAS HOVING. FROM 'EXTRA EARNINGS' TO FIRST PASSION....... 118 IX. EPILOGUE: THE 'COME-BACK KID' ............... 140 x. LUCAS HOVING: A LIFE OF DANCE ............... 152 APPENDIX A: ARCHIVES CONSULTED........................ 157 APPENDIX B: CHOREOCHRONICLE LUCAS HOVING.............. 158 APPENDIX C: CHRONOLOGY FOR LUCAS HOVING............... 167 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 179 DUTCH BIBLIOGRAPHY.................................... 203 vii CHAPTER I DISCOVERY OF THE DANCE On September 5, 1912 a boy was born in the City of Groningen, The Netherlands, by the name of Lucas Philippus Hovinga. 1 In the United States, later in his life, when people were not able to pronounce his name, it would be corrupted into Lucas Hoving. Lucas' parents, Derk Hovinga and Mina van Sluis called him Lou. His father, a farmer's son, had become 112 a butcher "because of the depression , with his shop in the front part of their house in the Steentilstraat. 3 In the same house, Lucas' mother, the daughter of a sea-captain, ran a boarding facility for around six students. 4 Lucas' mother became crippled5 shortly after he was born 1 Ann Murphy, "From Butcher Shop to Broadway and Beyond." San Francisco, unpublished. Photocopied. 2 Interview with Lucas Hoving, May 1-3 1995, in his temporary housing with the Sufis, 248 Laurel Place, San Rafael, California. 3 In his heart, his father always stayed a farmer. Later in his life he bought a farm, and that creased enormous conflict with his mother. The house in the Steentilstraat became a school for music and movement after they had left. Interview by author and Maryse J.F. Jacobs with Lucas Hoving. June 3-8 1992, San Francisco at 78 Ney Street. 4 The city of Groningen has an ancient university, dating back to the sixteenth century. 5 According to Ann Murphy, possibly through rheumatoid arthritis. Remark in letter to author, May 1995. 1 2 (evil tongues said he was the reason) 6 In later years Lucas would often help her get out of bed and get dressed. He would put on her stockings, lace her shoes and bring her to her chair in the kitchen. She was there all day, together with her daughter Riek and servants, preparing meals for their six boarders, and their two dogs, a German sheppard and a small brown dog. Around noon there would be a hot meal, and around six p.m. there would be buttered sandwiches with slices of ham or cheese. Lucas' mother had a charwoman to clean the house. Sometimes Lucas' sister, who was six years older, would help out; she had left school at twelve to help her father in the butcher shop. 7 The family was considered to be part of the "burgerij", 11 8 the petit-bourgeoisie" , and they were from a non-practising Protestant background. 9 At the age of three, Lucas discovered a piano in the room of one of the boarders. When the student heard Lucas trying to play on his piano, he told Lucas' father 6 Remy Charlip, "Growing Up in Public. The making of an autobiographical dance for Lucas Hoving/conceived and directed by Remy Charlip." Contact Quarterly, Vol .13 nr. 3 (Spring/Summer 1988), p.35. 7 Interviews with Lucas Hoving, June 1992/May 1995. 8 Lucas always considered himself to come from a lower middle class background.