Dodge, Shirlee, 1916-2008.

Shirlee Dodge Shirlee Helen Dodge was born on April 29, 1916, in Prairie du Sac, Wisconsin. In the late 1920s, Dodge performed acrobatic dances in local vaudeville shows with her sister, Doris. Dodge attended the University of Wisconsin, the first university to offer a degree in dance, in 1934 where she studied with Margaret H'Doubler. In the late 1930s, Dodge studied at the Mary Wigman School in Dresden, Germany, where she graduated with degrees in education and performance in 1939. After graduation, Dodge studied with Harald Kruetzberg, cofounded her own school in Gothenberg, Sweden with Ellen Lundström, and danced with the Hanya Holm Dance Company in New York City.

Although a dancer and choreographer, Dodge's legacy is as an instructor. In 1943, Dodge became the first dance professor at the University of Texas at Austin. There she founded the university's current dance program, housed within the Department of Theatre and Dance. Dodge taught modern dance, movement, and choreography at the University of Texas at Austin from 1943 to 1969. In total, Dodge taught dance for over fifty-one years, including at the University of Wisconsin, Northwestern University, Stanford University, and the University of Iowa.

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