Martha Hill and the Making of American Dance

by Soares, Janet Mansfield

• ISBN13: 9780819568991
• ISBN10: 0819568996
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2009-07-21
• Publisher: Wesleyan Univ Pr

Summary

Martha Hill (1900-1995) was one of the most influential figures of twentieth century American dance. Her vision and leadership helped to establish dance as a serious area of study at the university level and solidify its position as a legitimate art form. Setting Hill's story in the context of American postwar culture and women's changing status, this riveting biography shows us how Hill led her colleagues in the development of American contemporary dance from the Kellogg School of Physical Education to Bennington College and the American Dance Festival to the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center. She created pivotal opportunities for Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Hanya Holm, Jose Limon, Merce Cunningham, and many others. The book provides an intimate look at the struggles and achievements of a woman dedicated to taking dance out of the college gymnasium and into the theatre, drawing on primary sources that were previously unavailable. It is lavishly illustrated with period photographs.

Author Biography

JANET MANSFIELD SOARES, author of Louis Horst: Musician in a Dancer's World (1992), worked and taught dance with Martha Hill at the Juilliard School and teaches in the Dance Department at Barnard College. She lives in Tucson, Arizona and Lyme, Connecticut.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations

Preface and Acknowledgments

Bible Belt to Academe

Growing Up in Ohio, 1900-1922

Forging a Career, 1923-1928

New Dance

Dancing with Graham, 1929-1931

Bennington, 1932-1933

A Summer School for Dance, 1934

Private Lives and Common Goals

Panorama, 1935

Winter, 1936

Summer, 1936

The Late Thirties

Immediate Tragedy, 1937

Culmination of a Plan, 1938

California and Back, 1939-1940

The Forties

"The War Effort Hit Us All," 1941-1942

War Years and Recovery, 1943-1947

An American Dance Festival, 1948

Changes, 1949-1950

Dance Within the Conservatory

Juilliard, 1951-1952

Marriage, 1952-1955

Plans for Lincoln Square, 1955-1956

Between Two Worlds

Time Away, 1958

Brussels Respite, 1959

The Sixties

Students and Master Teachers, 1960-1961

Standing Firm, 1962-1965

Contrasts and Conflicts, 1965-1968

"Good Guys vs. Bad Guys," 1968-1969

A Place for Dance

Juilliard at Lincoln Center, 1970-1972

An Even Keel, 1973-1978

Matriarch, 1979-1984

Last Years, 1985-1994

Epilogue

Appendix: Works Produced during Martha Hill's Tenure as Director at Bennington, Connecticut College/ADF, and Juilliard

Abbreviations

Notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.