Evan-Burrows Fontaine was an American Denishawn-trained interpretive dancer and actress whose career suffered after she became entangled in a breach of promise lawsuit with a member of one of America's wealthiest families.
Library of Congress
Evan-Burrows Fontaine - Ziegfeld’s Midnight Follies (1919)
Evan-Burrows Fontaine - New York City (1919)
The Book of the Dance, 1920
Ruth St. Denis was an American pioneer of modern dance, introducing eastern ideas into the art and paving the way for other women in dance. She was inspired by the Delsarte advocate Genevieve Stebbins. St. Denis was the co-founder in 1915 of the American Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts. She taught notable performers including Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey. In 1938, she founded the pioneering dance program at Adelphi University. She published several articles on spiritual dance and the mysticism of the body.
Ruth St. Denis
Photographed by Otto Sarony, c. 1900. St. Denis began to investigate Oriental dance after seeing an image of the Egyptian goddess Isis in a cigarette advertisement.
St Denis and Company in Ishtar of the Seven Gates. Photo by White Studio, 1920s. The dancers are Doris Humphrey, Louise Brooks, Jeordie Graham, Pauline Lawrence, Anne Douglas, Lenore Scheffer, Lenore Hardy, and Lenore Sadowska.
Ted Shawn and St. Denis in Egyptian Ballet. They married, created and performed many productions together, and co-founded the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts.
