Dance in Boston, 1860--1950: Converging influences on expressive and contemporary American dance (Massachusetts, Dio Lewis, Genevieve Stebbins, Ted Shawn, Miriam Winslow).

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Beginning in 1860, Boston's dance traditions developed under a unique set of circumstances, which impacted the development of its professional community and contributed to the national scene. This study covers the theories, teachers, and artists that were responsible for the evolution of dance locally, and provides a broader context for understanding Boston's contributions to American expressive dance forms.
The Boston area was fertile ground for a new attitude towards physical health and well being for women promoted by physician Dio Lewis (1823--c1897), who settled in Boston in the 1860s and opened a school that disseminated his system of health and beauty for urban populations. Lewis' work set the stage for acceptance of the new expressive forms of movement that emerged just prior to the twentieth century.
American Delsartism also played a foundational role in the emergence of expressive dance in twentieth-century America. The form was introduced in Boston in 1871 and was disseminated through the work of the Boston University School of Oratory. Educated women in Boston, accustomed to the new forms of physical culture promoted by innovators such as Lewis, were deeply interested in Delsartism, which encouraged public speech and physical expression. Delsarteans such as Genevieve Stebbins helped establish the foundational material for later developments in the dance field.
Boston's involvement in American Delsartism provided a favorable environment for the Italian Braggiotti sisters, who successfully opened a school of interpretive dance in 1919. The sisters' later association with Ted Shawn led to the Boston Branch of the Denishawn School and re-instated Delsartean ideas into dance education. In the 1930s, expressive dance in Boston was invigorated by the arrival of German Expressionistic Dance through Hans Weiner. German dance education emphasized individuality, spatial awareness and the importance of dance as both an art and a personal means of fitness and expression. Miriam Winslow, Weiner's contemporary, merged the German theories with American dance. Her extensive work as a choreographer and educator helped develop sophisticated audiences for dance. By 1940, the Boston schools provided solid ground for a new generation of dancers, whose work was both regionally and nationally significant.