Ted Shawn was a male pioneer of American modern dance. He created the Denishawn School together with his wife Ruth St. Denis. After their separation he created the all-male company Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers. With his innovative ideas of masculine movement, he was one of the most influential choreographers and dancers of his day. He was also the founder and creator of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts, and "was knighted by the King of Denmark for his efforts on behalf of the Royal Danish Ballet."
Shawn in c. 1918
Ted Shawn with dancer and wife Ruth St. Denis in 1916.
Ted Shawn and Ruth St. Denis in Egyptian Ballet
Ted Shawn resting on the Jacob's Pillow Rock
Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was considered to have been developed as a rejection of, or rebellion against, classical ballet, and also a way to express social concerns like socioeconomic and cultural factors.
Martha Graham in 1948
Isadora Duncan in 1903
Dancer at the Laban school, Berlin 1929
Martha Graham and Bertram Ross in 1961; photo by Carl van Vechten