CRETOMANIA by Nicolett a Momigliano & Alexandre Farnoux

Author:Nicolett a Momigliano & Alexandre Farnoux
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Routledge

Chapter 6

Lord of the dance: Ted Shawn’s Gnossienne and its Minoan context

Christine Morris

On December 17, 1919, Ted Shawn first performed the short solo dance Gnossienne as part of the Denishawn Dancers repertoire in Los Angeles, California (Figure 6.1). To quote Shawn’s own words: ‘to music by Erik Satie, I represented a priest of ancient Crete going through a ritual at the altar of the snake goddess’.1 Only the single male dancer is seen; both the altar and the goddess for whom he dances are to be imagined off stage.

Although Gnossienne is now rarely danced and, indeed, is little known outside dance circles, it was a very popular piece throughout the life of the Denishawn company, and Shawn performed it regularly over a thirty-year period. It was also later performed by Shawn’s protégée, Barton Mumaw (first on March 21, 1933). In turn, Mumaw choreographed a young dancer, Jack Clark, to perform the piece at a special ‘Denishawn weekend’ in April 1984, which celebrated the acquisition of the Killinger Collection of Denishawn costumes and equipment by the Dance Department of Florida State University. This collection includes an original costume worn by Ted Shawn to perform Gnossienne, but more of that later. The Martha Graham Dance Company has also performed Gnossienne in more recent years.2

In this chapter I explore the Minoan inspiration behind Shawn’s Gnossienne and then consider how it fits into wider receptions and adaptations of things Minoan in the early 20th century. I also seek to contextualise Gnossienne within the eclectic and heady mix of influences drawn upon by Shawn and his wife and dance partner, Ruth St. Denis. First of all, it is necessary to provide some background on Ted Shawn himself. When the origins and early stages of modern dance are discussed today, most people will instantly think of Isadora Duncan, the Ballets Russes, and Martha Graham. Fewer, perhaps, will cite Ruth St. Denis or Ted Shawn and their Denishawn Dance Company.3 Yet, in their heyday, they were world famous and, as the major male figure in this founding phase of modern dance, Shawn is often referred to as the ‘Father of American Dance’.4 As Gnossienne is a male solo, I am more concerned with Shawn than St. Denis here, but their complex relationship, both personal and professional, is also relevant to the discussion.

Ted Shawn (Edwin Myers Shawn) was born on October 21, 1891, in Kansas, Missouri, the younger son of Mary Lee Booth Shawn and Elmer Ellsworth Shawn, a newspaper editor.5 Both his mother and his older brother died within a year of each other when he was only eleven years of age. His father remarried and moved to Denver, and it was there that he completed his schooling and entered college with the aim of training for the Christian ministry. In his third year in college, he was stricken with diphtheria and was paralysed from the waist down. He used dance as physical therapy to help his recovering body, and from that traumatic experience he decided to dedicate his life to dance rather than to religion.

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