The Early Life of an American Modern Dancer

Jane Dudley, the distinguished dancer, teacher and choreographer celebrated her eightieth birthday on 3 April 1992. Three significant phases in her long career can be identified: firstly, her unusually varied early training with some of the most influential dance artists of this century, Holm, Humphrey, and Graham, which she recalls in this article; secondly, her extended career as a professional dancer both with the Graham Company (for which she created several roles, between 1936 and 1946, including that of the Ancestress in Letter to the World), and later with the Dudley-Maslow-Bales Trio (1942-52) for which she choreographed several important works, Harmonica Breakdown among them; and thirdly, her distinguished period as Founder Director of Contemporary Dance, at London Contemporary Dance School (1970-91) when she oversaw the training of two generations ofprofessional dancers. With Robin Howard and Robert Cohan, Jane Dudley, established Graham-based contemporary dance in Great Britain as a majorforce in the theatre and in education. Her rigour as a teacher of technique, her uncompromising honesty, her greatness of aspiration, and her restless quest for artistic renewal and rediscovery, have had a profound influence upon dance in Great Britain and beyond. In this anniversary tribute, Miss Dudley recalls her early years, before she became one of Martha Graham's most valued collaborators and teaching assistants. It is clear that much of Jane Dudley's breadth of vision, resourcefulness as a dancer, and ideas about teaching the young, came through her varied experiences as a student dancer, before ever she worked with Miss Graham. The article that follows gives a fresh insight into a largely-forgotten artistic milieu and culture which formed one context for the emergence of American Modern Dance

Aesthetics · Art · Art history · Visual arts · Diversity and Impact of Dance · Musicology and Musical Analysis · Theater, Performance, and Music History