Voice from the wings: Ann Barzel and twentieth-century dance writing

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article looks at Ann Barzel’s dance writing in the early twentieth century to explore the ways that she influenced dance in the United States from her home base of Chicago. Consideration of how she embarked on her writing career, her work for specialized publications and newspapers, and her early correspondence with the dance world’s prime movers reveals how Barzel leveraged her knowledge as a dancer and dance teacher, ultimately achieving the status of an international expert on dance. Greater attention to dance writing provides insight into how it impacts our understanding of dance history, since written accounts about dance are the primary way it entered the historical record before film became ubiquitous.