The Delsarte Heritage

Abstract

Writings about early modern dance in the United States usually mention or discuss in some depth the influence of Franfois Delsarte ( 1811-1871 ) on the art.' In any investigation of his relevance to dance history, however, it is important to distinguish between what was taught in France by Delsarte himselfin his courses and lectures on acting, voice production and aesthetics and what came to be called American Delsartism. This latter was based on Delsarte's theory but also included significant practical adaptations and extensions developed in the United States mainly by Steele Mackaye (1842-1894) and Genevieve Stebbins (1857-1914 or later) and their followers. In its full development in the 1880s and 1890s, American Delsartism featured training methods for physical and vocal expression, exercises for physical conditioning, and performance forms (statueposing, pantomime, drills and even dance). While evidence exists to establish American Delsartean influence on dancers such as Isadora Duncan; Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn and the Denishawn dancers (including the first generation of American 'modern' dancers); Gertrude Colby, educational dance pioneer at Teacher's College, Columbia University; and those experimenting with new approaches to dance in Europe, the focus of this paper is not on those connections. Rather, it is on aspects of the Delsarte, Mackaye and Stebbins theory and practice that are relevant to subsequent dance developments in the 20th century that suggested new ways of thinking about and working with movement as an expressive medium.