Doris Humphrey

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Lore & Background

Humphrey was born in Oak Park, Illinois, but grew up in Chicago, Illinois. She was the daughter of Horace Buckingham Humphrey, a journalist and one-time hotel manager, and Julia Ellen Wells, who had trained as a concert pianist. She was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620. Encouraged by her mother, she studied with eminent ballet masters as well as with Mary Wood Hinman at the Francis Parker School. While still in high school she undertook a concert tour of the western states as a dancer, with her mother as accompanist, in a group sponsored by the Santa Fe Railroad for its Workman's Clubs. Partly due to financial concerns, she opened her own dance school in 1913 at age 18, with her mother as manager and pianist. It was a great success, offering classic, gymnastic, and ballroom dance. In 1917, at Mary Wood Hinman's instigation, she moved to California and entered the Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, where she studied, performed, taught classes, and learned choreography. Her creations from that era—Valse Caprice (Scarf Dance), Soaring, and Scherzo Waltz (Hoop Dance)—are all still performed today. She toured the Orient for two years followed by a successful career in American vaudeville theaters. In 1928, Humphrey and Charles Weidman left the Denishawn School and moved to New York City. There she developed her theory of fall and recovery, exploring the nuances of the human body's responses to gravity, which she called 'the arc between two deaths.' Her early choreography includes Air for the G String, Water Study, Life of the Bee, Two Ecstatic Themes, and The Shakers. Unlike the Denishawn approach of finding inspiration from abroad, Humphrey sought inspiration from within America. The Humphrey-Weidman Company was successful even in the Great Depression, touring America and developing new works based on current events. In the mid-1930s she created the 'New Dance Trilogy,' a triptych comprising With My Red Fires, New Dance, and the now-lost Theater Piece, danced to a score by Wallingford Rigger. Humphrey was a participant of the Federal Dance Project, created as part of Franklin Delano Roosevelt's Second New Deal. She expanded her choreographic work to Broadway in 1933 with School for Husbands and again the following year with Life Begins at 8:40. During the 1940s, Humphrey spent significant time with José Limón, one of her former students. After she retired from performing in 1944 due to arthritis, she became artistic director for the José Limón Dance Company and created works including Day on Earth, Night Spell, Ruins and Visions, and Lament for Ignacio Sanchez Mejias. One of her last pieces, Dawn in New York, showed her mastery of the intricacies of large groups and her emphasis on sculptural shapes. Humphrey was on the original faculties of both The Bennington School of the Dance (1934) and The Juilliard School (1951), both directed by Martha Hill. In 1952 she started directing a new dance company for children called The Merry-Go-Rounders. She died in New York City on December 29, 1958, and was buried at Forest Home Cemetery in Forest Park, Illinois.

Reader's Guide

Doris Humphrey's significance lies in her development of the fall and recovery theory, which she called 'the arc between two deaths.' This principle explores the human body's responses to gravity—at one extreme surrendering to gravity, at the other attempting to achieve balance. Humphrey believed movement should represent emotion but with a more clinical eye than Martha Graham, focusing on individual and group dynamics from an outsider's perspective. Her works often used abstraction to represent specific characters, events, or ideas, as seen in Two Ecstatic Themes (1931), which explored her own feelings about falling in love while remaining a strong, independent woman. Her choreography demonstrated an experimental approach: Water Study (1928) was danced without music, with dancers moving to their natural breathing patterns to represent the natural movement of water; Drama of Motion (1930) concentrated on formal elements of movement such as design, rhythm, and dynamics; and The Shakers (1931) incorporated shaking movements to represent sexual repression and the idea of being shaken clean of sin. Her legacy endures through her book The Art of Making Dances, published shortly after her death, in which she shared her observations and theories on dance and composition. Thirty-five of her dances are documented in Labanotation by the Dance Notation Bureau. Her theory of fall and recovery is still used to this day by many choreographers.

Did You Know?

• Humphrey was a descendant of pilgrim William Brewster, who arrived on the Mayflower in 1620.
• At age 18, partly due to financial concerns, she opened her own dance school offering classic, gymnastic, and ballroom dance.
• She created Water Study (1928) as an experiment in dancing without music, using dancers' natural breathing patterns.
• After retiring from performing in 1944 due to arthritis, she became artistic director for the José Limón Dance Company.
• Thirty-five of Doris Humphrey's dances are documented in Labanotation by the Dance Notation Bureau.