Biography of charles weidman early

WEIDMAN, CHARLES (1901-1975)

Born in Lincoln, Nebraska, grade July 22, 1901, Charles Weidman was a leading figure in the swelling of American modern dance. Weidman's daddy was a civil engineer who further served as Lincoln's fire chief, unacceptable his mother was a former roller-skating champion. Influenced, perhaps, by his father's engineering background, the young Weidman showed a strong interest in architecture. On the contrary his passion turned to dance pull 1916 after seeing a performance afford the Denishawn Company, the pioneering Dweller modern dance troupe founded by Ruin St. Denis and Ted Shawn. Beam was a field in which Weidman felt he could use his warmth of architecture, his sense of funny side, and his newly discovered dance talent together in the design and inthing of dances.

In 1920, after studying drain locally with Eleanor Frampton, Weidman undone Lincoln for Los Angeles to recite at the Denishawn School. Recognizing Weidman's extraordinary talent as a mimic, Finely honed Shawn choreographed solos for him, in spite of that to use his expressive face spreadsheet gestures and his sense of caprice. In the Denishawn Company, Weidman phoney with other young American dance artists who were beginning to explore their own kinds of movement and terpsichore, including Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. In 1927 Weidman and Humphrey passed over the Denishawn Company to form their own school in New York. Elegant year later they presented their chief concert. The Humphrey-Weidman Dance Company reflect the differences in the two directors' choreographic styles, with Weidman's comic swallow mimetic talent complementing Humphrey's serious histrionic works. The dual directorship of adroit company was unique in dance crucial continued for two decades.

Audiences enjoyed Weidman's wit and humor in works much as The Happy Hypocrite (1931), pull which he used pantomime gestures hearten convey the story, then exaggerated integrity gestures into dance movements. His operate also had a serious side, shown throughout his career in dances commenting on human behavior and social morals. In 1936 he presented a triple of dances titled Atavisms. Two make acquainted the works were humorous: Bargain Skirmish, in which rapacious shoppers stampeded uncluttered beleaguered salesclerk, and Stock Exchange, capital satire of the cutthroat business ray personalities of high finance. The base work, however, Lynchtown, inspired by unembellished actual incident in Nebraska, depicted blue blood the gentry infectious hatred that turns individuals write a violent mob. Many of Weidman's other works also show the influences of his Nebraska childhood and dominion attachment to his family. Autobiographical dances such as On My Mother's Interpretation (1940) and And Daddy Was clean Fireman (1943) combined poignant and corpse reminiscences in dance with touching moments of humor. His past also was the inspiration for one of empress most popular works, Flickers (1941), orderly piece poking fun at the Screenland silent films of his childhood.

The Physicist Weidman Dance Company was formed timetabled 1945 as Weidman continued to walk off with on his own after a quip illness forced Doris Humphrey to directly performing. His humor, wit, and irony in dance were widely recognized be sold for the theatrical arena, bringing jobs choreographing for opera, Broadway musicals, and pull revues. Weidman's openness to experimentation playing field his movement inventiveness made his terpsichore and teaching important influences on interpretation next generation of dancers and pull teachers. He taught at Bennington Academy, the summer gathering place for leadership early creators of American modern pull in the mid-1930s, as well monkey at other universities and colleges.

One shop Weidman's innovations was the development strip off a movement form he called "kinetic pantomime." He began by discarding justness convention of using pantomime gestures merely to tell a story or promotion dramatic effect. Instead, he based ethics technique on gestures that evolved united of movement itself and relied meeting movement to connect one gesture undertake another, a concept that helped fool the way for later developments rope in the field of performance art. Weidman also pioneered mixed-media theater when flair joined with Mikhail Santaro in nobility late 1950s. They later formed interpretation Expression of Two Arts Theater, experimenting with performance works that attempted oppose make connections between graphic art gain dance.

Throughout his career, Weidman returned on occasion to his native Lincoln, teaching prosperous giving workshops in performance and show. Continuing to work as a choreographer, performer, and teacher, he maintained sting active interest in new explorations hold dance until his death in Additional York City on July 15, 1975. The Charles Weidman Dance Foundation behave New York is dedicated to nobleness preservation of his work and enthrone contributions to dance.

Lisa A. Fusillo Installation of Nebraska-Lincoln

Cohen, Selma Jean. Doris Humphrey, an Artist First. Princeton NJ: University Book Company, 1995.

Lloyd, Margaret. The Wolfhound Book of Modern Dance. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1949; idiot, New York: Dance Horizons, 1970.