Dehn, Mura, 1902-1987.

Mura Dehn, born in 1902 in Odessa, Russia, performed as a modern and jazz dancer, directed her own jazz dance company, and, most notably, documented the history of Afro-American social dance in her writings and on film.

From the description of Papers on Afro-American social dance, ca. 1869-1987. (New York Public Library). WorldCat record id: 122314129

Mura Dehn, born in 1902 in Odessa, Russia, is most widely known for her study and documentation of Afro-American social dances in the United States, epitomized by her film “The Spirit Moves”.

While studying and performing modern dance in Europe in the 1920's, she was exposed to jazz dance and moved to New York in 1930 to pursue her interest. In New York, she performed, taught and choreographed (often with her partner, Roger Pryor Dodge) and eventually formed a company with James Berry to promote jazz dancing. The Traditional Jazz Dance Company (or Jazz Dance Theatre) toured widely in the United States, and in 1969 was sponsored by the State Department on a tour of Africa. Throughout her career, she wrote and spoke on the development of Afro-American social dance and in her later years was working on a film of breakdancers to supplement “The Spirit Moves”.

She was married to the painter Adolf Dehn in 1926 (divorced in 1931), and later to Herman Thomas (“Dutch”), a retired Merchant Marine captain, who died in 1982. Mura Dehn died in New York in February, 1987.

From the guide to the Papers on Afro-American social dance, circa 1869-1987, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)