Dance

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Selma Jeanne Cohen, 1920 - 2005

Despite the difficulty of translating the evanescent nature of dance into words, Selma Jeanne Cohen believed that dance, as much as painting, music and literature, deserved a history of its own. She spent a lifetime creating the structures necessary to making the recording of that history possible….

100 years: Happy Birthday Anna Sokolow!

Leah Berkenwald

Modern dance pioneer Anna Sokolow was born 100 years ago today in Hartford, Connecticut. Anna Sokolow was a Woman of Valor. She was a radical artist who used dance to explore social and political issues, challenege audiences, and make a statement.

Topics: Dance

Anna Sokolow

Anna Sokolow was a dancer and choreographer of uncompromising integrity. Believing strongly that dance could be more than mere entertainment, she explored the most pressing issues of her day—from the Great Depression, to the Holocaust, to the alienated youth of the 1960s—and challenged her audiences to think deeply about themselves and their society.

Radical dance pioneer Anna Sokolow debuts on Broadway

November 14, 1937

Dancer and choreographer Anna Sokolow debuted on Broadway on November 14, 1937.

Birth of dance scholar Selma Jeanne Cohen

September 18, 1920

Selma Jeanne Cohen, who sought to make dance scholarship a respected academic discipline, was born on September 18, 1920.

Premiere of Sophie Maslow's "The Village I Knew"

August 18, 1950

The American Dance Festival premiered Sophie Maslow's The Village I Knew on August 18, 1950, in New London, Connecticut.

Selma Jeanne Cohen's "Encyclopedia of Dance"

July 26, 1998

"The fact of its existence is the most important thing about it," the New York Times reviewer wrote of The International Encyclopedia of Dance in a review published on July 26, 19

Liz Lerman dance celebrates Statue of Liberty centennial

July 11, 1986

As part of the celebrations of the centennial of the Statue of Liberty, Liz Lerman's Still Crossing was performed in Manhattan on July 11, 1986.

Anna Halprin receives lifetime achievement award in modern dance

June 23, 1997

On June 23, 1997, Anna Halprin received the Samuel H. Scripps/American Dance Festival Award for lifetime achievement in modern dance.

Estelle Joan Sommers takes over Capezio

June 1, 1964

Estelle Sommers got her start in the dance world when she transformed her first husband's Cincinnati piece-goods retail store into a dancewe

Birth of choreographer Pearl Lang

May 29, 1921

Pearl Lang is well-known both for her work as one of Martha Graham's principal soloists and for her own choreography.

Dancer Nora Kaye performs the role of Hagar in "Pillar of Fire"

April 8, 1942

Nora Kaye's performance as Hagar in the world premiere of Antony Tudor's Pillar of Fire, on April 8, 1942, was hailed by the New York Times as "superb." The Times review

Melissa Hayden premieres role of Titania in Balanchine ballet

January 17, 1962

Born in Toronto, Canada, in 1923, Melissa Hayden became one of the biggest stars of American ballet.

Sydney Taylor

Sydney Taylor as the author of the beloved All-of-a-Kind Family chapter book series, about five memorable and distinctive sisters growing up in a warm and loving Jewish household in early twentieth-century New York.

Helen Tamiris

Helen Tamiris was a leader in forming American modern dance. An acclaimed choreographer and director, she used dance to comment on the social issues of her day, including racism, poverty, and war.

Estelle Joan Sommers

Estelle Joan Sommers was a designer, entrepreneur, and executive who made her career in retail dancewear, introducing innovative designs for Capezio’s dance and exercise clothing.

Anna Sokolow

Anna Sokolow (1910-2000), an American dancer and choreographer of Russian-Jewish descent, danced with the early Martha Graham Company and created many international dance-theater works of social and political significance.

Margalit Oved

Margalit Oved—dancer, choreographer, singer, actress, musician—is the epitome of a performance artist. Her work blended elements from the Yemen of her childhood, the Israel of her adolescence, and the Los Angeles of her adulthood. She has left an indelible mark on twentieth-century Jewish culture through her inventive and modern interpretations of ancient biblical tales.

Sophie Maslow

A leader of the New Dance Group, Sophie Maslow was among the generation of dancers involved in the labor movement of the 1930s. Maslow saw her work as inspired by a personal heritage rather than by political ideology; she believed that dance “could enrich the lives of workers in and of itself.”

Melissa Hayden

Melissa Hayden showed unparalleled versatility and range in her ballet dancing during a successful career that spanned decades. Dancing in both the American Ballet Theater and New York City Ballet, Hayden thrilled her audiences with consistently excellent performances in a career that spanned four decades.

Goldie Hawn

After beginning her career as a dancer, Goldie Hawn won many awards for her critically acclaimed acting performances. She has been one of the most successful women in Hollywood and, since executive producing Private Benjamin in 1980, she has continued to produce films with her own production company.

Anna Halprin

Anna Halprin was one of the founders of the American avant-garde in modern dance. Beginning with her work in the late 1950s and early 1960s, she radically expanded ideas of what could constitute a dance, incorporating task and chance activity while also creating one of the first multiracial dance groups and incorporating the aged and terminally ill as subject and dancers in her works.

Elsa Zylberstein

During the last two decades of the twentieth century, French cinema displayed an extraordinary wealth of young Jewish talents, such as Elsa Zylberstein. Zylberstein is an internationally acclaimed French film and stage actress with a strong commitment to humanitarian awareness and advocating for women’s welfare.

Ruth Ziv-Ayal

Ruth Ziv-Ayal, a director and choreographer, is a pioneer in Israeli experimental movement theater. Her early work was characterized by the use of everyday materials such as household tools, newspapers, and balls, while her later work expanded to use materials such as soil, sand, water, bread, and clothing.

Yaffa Yarkoni

Yaffa Yarkoni was a talented and influential Israeli singer who recorded over 1,400 songs throughout her career. Known for her deep and throaty voice, her music spanned an impressive array of styles and rhythms and marked a shift in Israeli popular music.

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