Maud Allan
The public record
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 11210724 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Lacy McDearmon (New York Public Library, corresponding author) |
| Year | 1978 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 85-105 |
| Publication date | 1978-01-01 |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Dance Chronicle (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0147-2526 • E-ISSN: 1532-4257 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/01472527808568721 |
| OpenAlex | W1987713913 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 2 |
In an era when the names Duncan, Nijinsky, and Pavlova were household words throughout the Western world, one of the most familiar names of all was that of Maud Allan. A truly remarkable aspect of her career is her descent from international acclaim and the benefits of a publicity machine almost unrivaled until the advent of the television age to an obscurity so complete that only a few researchers in dance history recognized her name. In twenty-four general histories of dance and modern dance published from 1924 through 1974, she is not mentioned at all in seventeen, and she receives only one sentence in three. The four remaining books discuss her in varying degrees of detail, the longest being Don McDonagh's discussion of her career in his recent The Complete Guide to Modern Dance.l As Olga Maynard pointed out in 1965 in American Modern Dancers. The Pioneers, contemporary U.S. writers on the dance barely acknowledged2 Maud Allan. This fall into obscurity may be partially accounted for by examining another interesting aspect of Maud Allan's career. Many of the dancers who have become legends in the history of dance have done so not only because of their talents, but because of their flamboyant private lives. Maud Allan succeeded during her lifetime in keeping her private life very much private, with one notable exception, to be discussed later. Almost everything we know of her early life, if we discount gossip, comes from her little autobiography, My Life and Dancing,3 published in 1908 at the height of her first London success, and the details of her personal life are scant indeed. My Life and Dancing is not as crassly egocentric as many theatre biographies tend to be. Instead, with sweet modesty, Allan convinces us of her considerable talents and virtues. There is an undercurrent of
Art · Art history · Diversity and Impact of Dance · History · Sport and Mega-Event Impacts · Sports, Gender, and Society
| Citations per year | 0.09 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 1980 - 2025 (46) |
| Highly cited | No |