Ruth St. Denis

Ruth St. Denis (January 20, 1878- July 21,1968) was an early modern dance pioneer.

Related Topics:
January 20 - 1878 - July 21 - 1968 - Modern dance

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Ruth Dennis was born in 1879 on a New Jersey farm. The daughter of a strong-willed and highly educated women ( Ruth Emma Dennis was a physician by training), St. Denis was encouraged to study dance from an early age. Her early training included Delsarte technique, ballet lessons with the Italian ballerina Maria Bonfante, social dance forms and skirt dancing. Ruth began her professional career in New York City in 1892, where she worked as a skirt dancer in a dime museum and in vaudeville houses. Dime museums featured "leg dancers" (female dancers whose legs were visible under their short skirts) in brief dance routines. St. Denis was probably required to perform her routine as many as eleven times a day.

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