Ted Shawn
Ted Shawn – Life, Career, and Legacy in Modern Dance
Explore the life and influence of Ted Shawn (1891-1972), American dance pioneer who co-founded Denishawn, founded Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers, and established the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival. Biography, key works, philosophy, and legacy.
Introduction
Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn, October 21, 1891 – January 9, 1972) was one of the foremost figures in the development of American modern dance. He was a visionary choreographer, teacher, impresario, and advocate for male dancers at a time when dance was often seen as a feminine domain. Shawn co-founded the influential Denishawn School and Company with his wife Ruth St. Denis, later created the all-male Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers, and founded the Jacob’s Pillow Dance Festival — still a central institution.
His vision extended beyond performance: he sought to elevate dance as a serious art, integrate spiritual and expressive dimensions into movement, and change public perceptions of male dancers. Shawn’s legacy continues to influence dance education, performance, and cultural institutions today.
Early Life and Family
Ted Shawn was born in Kansas City, Missouri on October 21, 1891.
Growing up in Denver, he initially intended to pursue a religious vocation. He enrolled at the University of Denver to study theology.
At age 19, he contracted diphtheria, which left him temporarily paralyzed from the waist down. His physician prescribed physical therapy, and among the rehabilitation methods Shawn undertook was dance training. This path ultimately shifted the trajectory of his life.
Thus, dance, for Shawn, began as a necessity — a physical therapy — but grew into his calling.
Youth and Education / Early Steps
Shawn’s early dance studies included training under Hazel Wallack, a former Metropolitan Opera dancer, in about 1910.
In 1912, he moved to Los Angeles and performed in exhibition ballroom dance settings with Norma Gould.
By 1914 he had relocated to New York, where he met Ruth St. Denis; they married that same year (August 13).
Shawn and St. Denis shared a vision: integrating the spiritual, expressive, and exotic into dance, pushing beyond purely formal or decorative notions.
In 1915 they opened the first Denishawn School in Los Angeles.
Under the Denishawn banner, Shawn and St. Denis trained students, staged performances, and developed repertory drawing from diverse influences — Eastern dance, Native American motifs, spiritual and symbolic sources.
Career and Achievements
Denishawn, Choreography & Influence
During the ~17 years of operation, the Denishawn Company became a major incubator of American modern dance.
Shawn choreographed or co-choreographed works such as Invocation to the Thunderbird (1917), Danse Americaine (solo performed by Charles Weidman), Julnar of the Sea, Xochitl (performed by Martha Graham), Les Mystères Dionysiaques, and others.
He and St. Denis had complementary strengths: St. Denis contributed symbolic and aesthetic inspiration; Shawn handled business, choreography, promotion, logistics, and institutional development.
Denishawn launched or nurtured careers of many important dancers/choreographers, including Martha Graham, Charles Weidman, Doris Humphrey, and others.
The All-Male Company & Advocacy for Male Dancers
After Shawn and St. Denis separated (Denishawn dissolved around 1930), Shawn shifted his focus toward redefining the role of men in dance.
He believed that dance should not be considered solely a feminine sphere but that men too could be expressive, strong, artistic dancers.
In 1933, he gave the first performance of Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers on his property in Massachusetts (later Jacob’s Pillow). The all-male company toured widely, advancing the idea of masculine expression in dance.
Their repertory included athletic, ritualistic, stylized dances: e.g. Kinetic Molpai, Hopi Eagle Dance, Dyak Spear Dances, etc.
The company toured across the U.S., Canada, and internationally until about 1940.
Ted Shawn’s advocacy for male dancers and the notion that dance was a legitimate creative profession for men was among his most significant cultural contributions.
Jacob’s Pillow & Institutional Legacy
In 1930, Shawn purchased a farm in the Berkshires, Massachusetts. He transformed it over time into a dance center and performance venue, ultimately known as Jacob’s Pillow.
Jacob’s Pillow became home to his company, dance school programs, summer festivals, performance stages, and archives.
He remained involved in Jacob’s Pillow and its operation until his death.
He also authored several books on dance, theory, technique, education, and autobiography — among them Dance We Must, Every Little Movement, Thirty-three Years of American Dance, One Thousand and One Night Stands.
Shawn was honored in his lifetime: awards like the Capezio Award (1957), the Dance Magazine Award (1970), and he was knighted by the King of Denmark for his contributions to dance.
Style, Philosophy & Artistic Approach
Ted Shawn believed that dance could express spiritual and emotional truths better than words. He once wrote:
“I believe that dance communicates man’s deepest, highest and most truly spiritual thoughts and emotions far better than words, spoken or written.”
His aesthetic incorporated varied sources — Native American, Eastern, ritualistic, symbolic, athletic — combining expressive gesture with ritual form.
He also explored masculine movement, not as an imitation of female styles, but on its own terms: strength, earthbound grounding, ritual, angularity.
Shawn’s choreography often balanced formality and spiritual symbolism, embedding narrative or symbolic meaning into gesture and group formations.
He resisted dance as mere spectacle or entertainment; he insisted on intellectual and emotional depth, on dance serving a purpose beyond show.
His approach to dance education, company structure, and institutional building was holistic — performance, teaching, promotion, and legacy were intertwined.
Legacy and Influence
Ted Shawn’s influence is vast and deep in American dance:
-
He is often called one of the fathers of American modern dance.
-
Through Denishawn, he and St. Denis helped lay the foundations for modern dance pedagogy, repertory, and institution building.
-
His promotion of male dancers shifted cultural norms, making dance more acceptable for men in the U.S.
-
Jacob’s Pillow remains a premier dance festival, school, archive, and symbol of artistic continuity.
-
Many subsequent dancers, choreographers, companies, and educators trace lineages back to Denishawn’s students and the institutional networks he helped establish.
-
His writings contribute to dance scholarship and pedagogy.
In recent years, scholars have also more openly explored aspects of his life previously less discussed, such as his romantic relationship with dancer Barton Mumaw, and how his identity as a gay man shaped both his art and the culture around him.
Selected Quotes & Aphorisms
-
“I believe that dance communicates man’s deepest, highest and most truly spiritual thoughts and emotions far better than words, spoken or written.”
-
Shawn also often framed male dance as a “legitimate medium for the creative male artist,” challenging stereotypes of gender in performance.
(While Shawn is less widely quoted than writers or poets, his writings and lectures include many observations about body, gesture, movement, and discipline.)
Lessons from Ted Shawn
From Ted Shawn’s life and work, we can draw several enduring lessons:
-
Transform adversity into art
Shawn turned a physical crippling illness into a path toward his vocation. -
Vision requires institution building
He didn’t just choreograph — he built schools, companies, festivals to ensure continuity and influence. -
Challenge social norms
He redefined what masculine dance could be, opening space for men in modern dance. -
Integration of body, mind, and spirit
He treated dance as more than movement — as expressive, symbolic, and spiritual. -
Legacy is collective
His influence spreads through students, companies, institutions — not just his own works. -
Courage in identity
Navigating cultural stigma, he preserved his vision with tenacity and resilience.
Conclusion
Ted Shawn was a trailblazer who reshaped American dance, particularly by advocating for male dancers, building institutions like Jacob’s Pillow, and fostering generations of modern dance talent. His life shows how art, discipline, and vision can combine to alter cultural landscapes.