She's actually an American vaudeville dancer called Ruth St. Denis who founded Adelphi University's dance programme and was famed for her love of exoticism and mysticism. We also coincidentally share a birthday (and I thought it was only Gary Barlow and Kevin Costner. Phew).
A google search has just told me that there are tonnes of biographies on her (which sound really good actually), but maybe she could inspire you to an original work? For instance, what do we think she's thinking here?
A full catalogue of her costumes can be found at NYPL (a link recommended on the original Fed by Birds article.)
While in the US a number of years ago, I stumbled across the name of Ruth St.Denis in connection with Jacob's Pillow Dance, which is a name one never forgets.
ReplyDeleteRuth created the festival with her husband, Ted, and it is still one of the biggest in America.
Their website will hopefully help people understand more about the legacy that the illustrious Ruth has left behind.
http://www.jacobspillow.org/
And I completely agree with Lyndsay that Ruth's story would make an amazing piece of literature or even a biopic.
Perhaps you did not know that Ms. St. Denis visited Pultenham County at one time. She left quite the mark:
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Thank you for another enlightening post. I share her birthday as well...and it looks as though the Eastern Star ladies in Pultenham County will be marking the anniversary of her passing next month.
AWESOME.
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