I looked for a long time for direct world events that Ted Shawn used as inspirations for dances, but I could not find any specific examples. So instead, I looked up 1929 and found some of these extremely important events.
Here is just a short list of events that could have influenced the works of Ted Shawn
- The Stock Market Crash
- The 1st Academy Awards were held in Los Angeles
- The Museum of Modern Art opened in New York City
- The St. Valentines Day Massacre took place in Chicago, IL
- Pope Pius XI emerges from the Vatican ending a nearly 60 years of "self-imprisonment"
- Pablo Picasso painted two abstract cubist works
- Salvador Dali and Rene Magritte were painting works as well
It's hard to saw what world events were influencing Ted Shawn, but I can speak from experience, It is hard to ignore what is happening in the world around you. The world around Ted Shawn was extremely exciting and constantly changing and I am sure his work was as well.
I love the photos here. I think you might look at a range of years instead of just 1929...easier to draw from a time period and then look at what Shawn created before and or after some of those events. Music? visual art?literature? Walt Whitman? It is easy to see lots of Hollywood in the photos. Sometimes artists create ahead of their time...
ReplyDeleteThat is a very interesting point to bring up...the Hollywood in these photos. There was something about the pictures that I thought looked very modern but wasn't sure what it was. 1929 was the first year Hollywood was really recognized with the Academy Awards being presented for the first time. Perhaps he was incredibly influenced by the movies he watched and the celebrities he admired. I'll have to look into it.
ReplyDeleteAs far as music and visual art and literature, I also didn't think of looking into it. I've always wondered about the music he used because I haven't stumbled upon anything regarding his choices. As I mentioned above, Pablo PIcasso was beginning to paint his abstract works around this time, but I am unsure if Picasso had any influence on the work Ted was creating.
Thanks for all the insight into a different side of Ted I wasn't exploring yet!
You talk about the world of Ted Shawn when he started his own company and the influences that might have had on his work, but have you considered looking at the events that took place in his life and the world before he formed his company that might have influenced his work? As well as, those that happened afterwards. For instance, do you think WWI, his divorce from Ruth or WWII had an impact on his work or life? I know it is hard to find literature stating direct influences events had on his life and work, but maybe some of the content or storylines of his dances can give a few clues as to what Ted Shawn might have been influenced or effected by. The connection to Hollywood and his dancing you mentioned before is very interesting, I hope you can find more of these connections in your research.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the ideas! I am having a hard time finding direct information about what influenced his work. I'll give Youtube a shot and see if I can find video's of some of his pieces. If I can, I'm sure I'll have to "guess" what what the potential influence could have been. I see in a lot of the pictures I've posted that there must be a huge range of inspirations.
ReplyDeleteIt looks like Indian, Hollywood, Native American cultures played some role, but I am unsure. Stay tuned for my next posting where I will hopefully find more information and be able to go into more depth of what is work has done for the dance world based on his influences.
Thanks for all the thought provoking questions!