Buckley, Suzanne Shelton, 1946-

Suzanne Shelton Buckley (1946- ) received her doctorate in American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in 1980. She wrote her dissertation about dancer and choreographer, Ruth St. Denis (1878-1968). Her dissertation was published by Doubleday in 1981 as Divine dancer: a biography of Ruth St. Denis. Upon completion of her doctorate, she taught in the American Studies Dept. at the University of Texas at Austin.

Suzanne Shelton Buckley was born in Wichita Falls, Texas on April 27, 1946, the daughter of Elsa Barnes Shelton and Glenn Elbert Shelton. She received a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English from the University of Texas at Austin in May 1968. From 1968 to 1970 she was employed as a writer for The Houston Post, in Houston, Texas. In September 1970, she entered the Graduate School in Austin and was awarded the degree of Master of Arts in American Studies in 1973. She was then employed as a dance critic for Texas Monthly and Dance Magazine, where she worked until the mid-1980s. Shelton received her doctorate in American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin in1980. Suzanne Shelton wrote her dissertation and manuscript on Ruth St. Denis (1878-1968), a seminal figure in modern dance. Her dissertation was published by Doubleday in 1981 as Divine Dancer: A Biography of Ruth St. Denis . After receiving her doctorate, she taught in the American Studies Department at the University of Texas at Austin and until the mid-1980s.

Suzanne Shelton became interested in Ruth St. Denis when she saw Ruth St. Denis as Isis on Egyptian Deity Cigarette packages. Ruth St. Denis is considered to be the mother of American modern dance and introduced Eastern dance forms to Americans. Ms. Shelton???s book Divine Dancer covers the dancer???s life and includes her marriage and long-time partnership with Ted Shawn, her affair with a Chinese diplomat Sun Nung Au-Young, her world tours and choreography of specific dances. Ted Shawn (1892-1971) was a divinity student at the University of Denver in 1910 when he began dancing. He was expelled the following year because dancing was discouraged at the University, which was still a Methodist university. In 1920 St. Denis and Shawn founded the Denishawn School. A number of notable modern dancers, including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles Weidman, studied at the school.

Suzanne Shelton, a long-time resident of Austin, Texas was married to John Buckley, M.D. and had one daughter. After her husband died in the mid-1980s, Suzanne and her daughter moved to India, where she became director of an educational foundation. Suzanne Shelton Buckley is still director of the foundation and continues to live in India.