From Workers' Dance to New Dance

Abstract

The revolution in dance marked by Martha Graham's 1926 concert and Doris Humphrey's 1928 concert gave rise shortly afterwards to another revolution unconcerned with inner landscape of personality and formal properties of movement, but using dance as a weapon to expose harsh realities of society in 1930s, and devastating social repercussions of 1929 stock market crash. Rumblings of discontent were evident in early years of resultant depression but extensive was not organised until 1932. The fledgling modern dance form was used intermittently in protests against bourgeois society prior to Crash. Edith Segal danced in memory of Lenin at Communist Party meetings in early twenties and created dances on theme of racial unity. Edith Segal's Red Dancers were formed in 1928, start of a movement of revolutionary groups. protest spread with formation in 1932 of New Dance Group. The group's work was orientated towards those hardest hit by depression workers. The words the dance is a weapon in class struggle' became slogan of a movement which reached from factories and union halls to main theatre stages of New York City. The New Dance Group was begun by students from Wigman School in New York City; its membership was progressively drawn from other dance schools, as well as from non-dancing working class recruits. Technique classes were given to help amateur student master art of movement as an integral part of proletariat's expression of discontent. The classes were centred around contemporary topics and ways of expressing left-wing ideologies through movement, followed by political discussion. Drawing people from industries, offices and even ships, their motives and enthusiasm were powerful enough to transcend diversity of backgrounds and talents well into decade. In performance, audiences were sought out in union halls, social gatherings and on picket lines.