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St. Denis (Ruth) papers
LSC.1031
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Contributing Institution:
UCLA Library Special Collections
Title: Ruth St. Denis papers
Creator:
St. Denis, Ruth
Identifier/Call Number: LSC.1031
Physical Description:
79.2 Linear Feet
(157 boxes, 8 cartons, and 17 flat boxes)
Date (inclusive): 1880-1968
Abstract: Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) was a modern dance pioneer who combined spirituality and dance. Throughout her career, St. Denis's
dances were greatly influenced by eastern culture and religion. In the later years of her career, Christian themes were also
explored and depicted in her works. Her papers include handwritten journals, personal and professional correspondence, essays,
poems, lectures, choreographic notes, musical scores, dance programs and ephemera, photographic prints, reel-to-reel audio
recordings, books from her personal library, and business materials. The collection spans the majority of her life, though
the bulk of collection derives from the 1920s to her death in 1968.
Physical Location: Stored off-site. All requests to access special collections material must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Language of Material: Materials are in English.
Open for research. All requests to access special collections materials must be made in advance using the request button located
on this page.
Boxes 1-3 available on microfilm in Library Special Collections. Originals not available for consultation due to fragile condition.
Microfilm must be used. Original audio reel-to-reels must be digitized prior to use.
Seven envelopes of negatives in Box 153, Folder 11 unvailable due to damaged condition.
Property rights to the physical objects belong to UCLA Library Special Collections. All other rights, including copyright,
are retained by the creators and their heirs. It is the responsibility of the researcher to determine who holds the copyright
and pursue the copyright owner or his or her heir for permission to publish where The UC Regents do not hold the copyright.
[Identification of Item], Ruth St. Denis Papers (Collection 1031). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research
Library, University of California, Los Angeles.
Provenance/Source of Acquisition
- Ruth St. Denis, purchase, 1966.
- Brother St. Denis, purchase, 1968.
- Gift of Buzz St. Denis, 1969.
- Catherine Barnes, purchase, 1987.
Collections are processed to a variety of levels depending on the work necessary to make them usable, their perceived user
interest and research value, availability of staff and resources, and competing priorities. Library Special Collections provides
a standard level of preservation and access for all collections and, when time and resources permit, conducts more intensive
processing. These materials have been arranged and described according to national and local standards and best practices.
Initial processing of this collection was funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and administered by the Council on Library
and Information Resources (CLIR), Cataloging Hidden Special Collections and Archives program.
Further processing by Zoe Macleod with assistance from Jillian Cuellar in the Center for Primary Research and Training (CFPRT),
2012-2014.
Revision of description in subseries 2.3 by Carolina Meneses with assistance from Jasmine Jones in the Center for Primary
Research and Training (CFPRT), 2018.
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existing description of our materials that contains language
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UCLA Catalog Record ID:
9932222453606533
Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) was a modern dance pioneer who combined spirituality and dance. Throughout her career, St. Denis's
dances were greatly influenced by eastern culture and religion. In the later years of her career, Christian themes were also
explored and depicted in her works. Born Ruth Dennis in New Jersey, she later added "St." as part of her stage name. St. Denis's
training began as a child, with the practice of physical exercises developed by François Delsarte. This greatly influenced
her future style of dance. As a teenager, she appeared in Broadway musicals and was a protégé of David Belasco. Inspired by
a poster advertising Egyptian Deities Cigarettes with an image of the Egyptian goddess Iris, St. Denis began choreographing
dances that expressed the goddess's mysticism. The first dance piece that brought her into the circuit of higher art was Radha,
which she first performed in 1906. This dance portrayed the story of Krishna and his love for a mortal maid. St. Denis's intention
was to create a work that would serve as a spiritual expression of eastern cultural themes.
In 1914, St. Denis married her dance partner, Ted Shawn. The following year, they founded the Denishawn School of Dance in
Los Angeles, California, one of the first schools devoted to "aesthetic dancing." In 1920, the school moved to New York City.
Aesthetic dancing involved spiritual, natural movements. Some of Denishawn's illustrious pupils were Martha Graham, Doris
Humphrey, Charles Weidman, and Louise Brooks, the future film star. The Denishawn dancers toured Asia for fifteen months in
1925, performing dances inspired by Asian and Egyptian cultures.
In 1927, St. Denis founded the Society of Spiritual Arts, focusing on the religious aspects of dance. In 1931, St. Denis and
Shawn separated maritally, but did not legally divorce. Though they dissolved Denishawn, St. Denis remained close to Shawn
throughout her career. In 1934, St. Denis founded the Church of Divine Dance at her studio in Los Angeles, which, like the
Society of Spiritual Arts, established dance as a means of worship. Here, she led dance masses and rituals. In 1938, she founded
the first college dance program in an American university at Adelphi University in New York State.
St. Denis died of a heart attack in Hollywood, California in 1968. As a pivotal figure of modern dance, she left behind an
esteemed legacy and several dance companies have honored her by performing her pieces. She was inducted into the National
Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame in 1987, and was among the first to be distinguished
by the Dance Heritage Coalition in its America's Irreplaceable Dance Treasures http://www.danceheritage.org/treasures.html.
This collection is comprised of the personal papers of Ruth St. Denis. It includes St. Denis's handwritten journals, which
begin at the turn of the century and continue until weeks before her death, personal and professional correspondence, essays,
poems, lectures, choreographic notes, musical scores, dance programs and ephemera, photographic prints, reel-to-reel audio
recordings, books from her personal library, and business materials.. The collection spans the majority of her life, though
the bulk of collection derives from the 1920s to her death in 1968.
Series 1: Journals, 1900s-1968
Series 2: Correspondence, 1886-1968
Subseries 2.1: List of contacts
Subseries 2.2: Greeting cards
Subseries 2.3: Correspondence, 1886-1968
Series 3: Writings, 1900s-1968
Subseries 3.1: Essays and manuscripts, 1910s-1960s
Subseries 3.2: Poems, 1910s-1960s
Subseries 3.3: Lectures and speeches, 1930s-1960s
Subseries 3.4: Writings of others, 1910s-1960s
Subseries 3.5: Inventories of writings, 1920s-1960s
Series 4: Performance and dance materials, 1910s-1960s
Subseries 4.1: Choreography and performance note, 1910s-1960s
Subseries 4.2: Performance research/resources, 1910s-1960s
Subseries 4.3: Education and dance center materials, 1940s-1960s
Subseries 4.4: Sheet music, 1920s-1960s
Series 5: Media, 1900s-1960s
Subseries 5.1: Photographs, 1900s-1960s
Subseries 5.2: Negatives
Subseries 5.3: Reel to reel audio recordings, 1950s-1960s
Series 6: Clippings, ephemera, and publications, 1920s-1960s
Subseries 6.1: Clippings and publications, 1920s-1960s
Subseries 6.2: Ephemera, 1920s-1960s
Series 7: Books from personal library
Series 8: Business materials, 1920s-1960s
Subseries 8.1: Financial materials, 1920s-1960s
Subseries 8.2: Medical materials, 1920s-1960s
Subseries 8.3: Legal materials, 1920s-1960s
Subseries 8.4: Business notes and memos, 1920s-1960s
Subseries 8.5: Lists and inventories, 1920s-1960s
Series are arranged chronologically.
Reflections on a life in the dance. Ruth St. Denis, interviewee.
UCLA Oral History Department interview, 1965. UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Elyse Robert collection on Ruth St. Denis, 1932-1991 (Collection 1735) . UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, UCLA.
Ruth St. Denis Collection. Adelphi University Archives and Special Collections, Garden City, NY.
Photograph Collection on Ruth St. Denis. MS-P070. Special Collections and Archives, The UC Irvine Libraries, Irvine, California.
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Choreographers -- California, Southern -- Archives.
Diaries.
Women dancers -- California, Southern -- Archives.
St. Denis, Ruth -- Archives