Dance has been a lively part of Bryn Mawr's history since its earliest years. In addition to Maypole dances (which along with 'Mayhole' dances are still a part of May Day festivities), Bryn Mawr offered dance and movement courses that were revolutionary in their day including Delsarte Aesthetic Movement, interpretive dancing, and the movement and music improvisation of Dalcroze's Eurhythmics. Early forms of modern dance were introduced by Gertrude Prokosch Kurath, noted Dance ethnologist, who offered classes shortly after her return to Bryn Mawr as its first graduate student in Art History. In 1928, body mechanics and natural dancing, styled after the art and theory of Isadora Duncan, were added to the curriculum by the new director of Physical Education, Josephine Petts. Dance remained within the Physical Education department and modern technique was reintroduced in the late '50's by a series of dedicated instructors. Within a few years, Dance Composition was offered as the first academic course in dance at Bryn Mawr. In the first half of the twentieth century, the boards of the Goodhart stage were danced upon by the likes of Ruth St. Denis, Mary Wigman, and Doris Humphrey, and the Ballet Society, then a neophyte American ballet troupe, presented the theatrical debut of Serenade , a new work by their young resident choreographer and director, George Balanchine.
| Several Bryn Mawr alumnae have exerted strong influence on Dance in our times including Gertrude Kurath, a pioneer in the field of dance ethnology; Anna Kisselgoff, former chief dance critic for the New York Times; writer, Ann Cooper Albright; Senta Driver, dancer and choreographer, but these students from the earlier days of dance at Bryn Mawr often went on to dance careers in spite of the lack of organized support for their talent and interests. Several instructors taught and coached dancers over the years but there was no consistent or extended program in dance prior to the mid-1980's when Dr. Linda Caruso Haviland was appointed director. In 1984, Dance, at last, found a home within the newly formed Arts Program and the various elements of dance on campus were finally consolidated, strengthened, and expanded into a program with both shape and substance that services hundreds of students each year and that now offers both a minor and the opportunity to apply for a major in Dance. |  |
Bryn Mawr Dancers in their 'China silks' Bryn Mawr Duncan Dancers. . . . probably late 1930s or early 1940s under the direction of Josephine Petts, who trained in Physical Education at Wellesley, studied anatomy at MIT, and Duncan Dance with Elizabeth Duncan (Isadora's sister) in Europe before coming to Bryn Mawr in the late '20s. |
.