Sherman, Jane, 1908-2010

Jane Sherman was born in Beloit, Wisconsin, in 1908. She performed with the Denishawn Dancers and toured Asia with the company from 1925-1926. She appeared in Broadway musicals and danced with the Rockettes in the mid-1930s. In 1933 she met writer Allan Seager in Oxford, England, and the two later became lovers in New York City in the mid-1930s. She married composer Ned Lehac in 1940 and wrote books and articles on the dance in the 1970s.

American dancer and author, Jane Sherman (born 1908), is perhaps best known for her association with the Denishawn Dancers, the modern dance group created by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn.

The youngest dancer in the Denishawn group, Sherman would become a writer on dance subjects, and, in later years, she helped to reconstruct the early choreographic works of St. Denis and Shawn. Sherman toured with the company to the Far East in 1925-1926, and in the United States, 1926-1927. She also was a member of their troupe on the Ziegfeld Follies tour, 1927-1928. Sherman joined the Humphrey-Weidman Company (1928-1929) when those two dancers left Denishawn. She also appeared in Broadway musicals, studied in Europe, and danced with the Radio City Music Hall's Rockettes. An author of non-fiction juvenile books, Sherman also wrote several autobiographical books. Among those were: Soaring: The Diary and Letters of a Denishawn Dancer in the Far East (1976), The Drama of Denishawn Dance (1979), Denishawn: The Enduring Influence (1983), and she was co-author of Barton Mumaw, Dancer (1983 and 2000). Sherman also wrote articles for Ballet Review, Dance Chronicle, and Dance Magazine. During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Sherman was the artistic director for the Denishawn Repertory Dancers. In this role, she prepared programs for appearances at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in their 1996 series, America Dancing. The group also performed at Jacob's Pillow, St. Mark's Church in-the-Bowery (New York City), and the Lyon Biennale de la Danse (Lyon, France). Sherman, who was married to composer Ned Lehac from 1940 until his death in 1999, currently lives at the Actor's Fund of America retirement home in Englewood, New Jersey.

Jane Sherman was born June 14, 1908 in Beloit Wisconsin to Horace and Florentine Sherman. She graduated from the Newtown High School in Elmhurst, New York in 1925.

Sherman was the youngest member of the Denishawn Dancers, the dance group created by Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn. She toured with them to the Far East in 1925-1926, and in the United States, 1926-1927, she was a member of their troupe on the Ziegfeld Follies tour, 1927-1928.

Sherman joined the Humphrey-Weidman Company (1928-1929) when those two dancers left Denishawn. She also appeared in Broadway musicals, studied in Europe and danced with the Radio City Music Hall’s Rockettes.

Sherman married composer Ned Lehac, February 8, 1940, who died in 1999.

An author of several non-fiction juvenile books, Sherman also wrote several autobiographical books. Among those were: Soaring: The Diary and Letters of a Denishawn Dancer in the Far East (1976), The Drama of Denishawn Dance (1979), Denishawn: The Enduring Influence, (1983) and co-author on Barton Mumaw, Dancer (1983 and 2000). Sherman also wrote articles on the dance for Ballet Review, Dance Chronicle, and Dance Magazine .

During the late 1980s and early 1990s, Sherman was the artistic director for the Denishawn Repertory Dancers. In this role, she prepared programs for appearances at Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, in their 1996 series America Dancing . The group also performed at Jacob’s Pillow, St. Mark’s (in NYC), and Lyon Biennale de la Danse (France).

Sherman currently lives at the Actor’s Fund of America retirement home in Englewood, NJ.