Physical Culture, Bodily Practices and Dance in Late Nineteenth-century and Early Twentieth-century America

Abstract

Several years ago I wrote a review article (Thomas, 1998) on three books published in 1995, which focused on the relations between the body, politics and performance, viewed through the lens of theatrical dance practices. In this review, I consider two books, published in the same year, 1999, which are also concerned with bodies, but not necessarily 'special' (theatrical) dancing bodies: The Cultivation ofBody and Mind in Nineteenth-Century American Delsartism (Nancy Lee Chalfa Ruyter, Greenwood Press: Wesporte Conn., London, 1999); Dancing Class: Gender, Ethnicity, and Social Divides in American Dance, 1890-1920 (LindaJ. Tomko, Indiana University Press: Blomington and Indianapolis, 1999). It is useful to consider these two studies together. Both studies turn the focus of attention away from dance as 'art', in favour of other less well-documented aspects of physical culture, to consider their impact on everyday bodies, and on women's lives in particular. Both studies point to the importance of women's physical and cultural practices in the development of modern dance in America. Furthermore, as well as situating their work within the study of dance history, the authors seek to engage with feminist or women's studies, and cultural history. This latter engagement is brought out more systematically in Tomko's study, but it lives on in the background of Ruyter's study, too. Although there are overlaps in approach, an emphasis on painstaking archival research for example, there are also significant differences. Ruyter's study remains largely within the 'fact finding' tradition of dance history, whilst Tomko adopts a broader contemporary culturalist framework. The former is largely concerned with 'what', 'who', 'where', 'when', questions, whilst the latter's attention is directed more to 'how' questions. Neither study engages with 'why' questions which suggests a shift away from simplistic mono-causal explanations, which are characteristic of more traditional positivistic approaches. Nancy Ruyter's Reformers and Visionaries: The Americanisation of the Art of Dance (1979) sought to develop an understanding of the emergence and establishment of American modern dance within the broader context of related historical cultural forms and practices. It pointed to the crucial role that women played in the development of American modern dance. In Reformers and Visionaries, Ruyter surveyed the influences of American Delsartism in the late nineteenth century on