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.

On January 20, 2008, Shirlee Dodge died in Jeanerette, Louisiana.

Sources: College of Fine Arts, University of Texas at Austin. "In Memoriam: Shirlee Dodge." News, February 1, 2008. Accessed September 28, 2011. http://www.finearts.utexas.edu/news/news_items/shirlee_dodge.cfm.

"Shirlee Dodge." The Daily Iberian, January 25, 2008. Accessed September 28, 2011. http://www.iberianet.com/obituaries/shirlee-dodge/article_57217db3-1277-5c20-a15d-aa944969e15b.html.

Mary Wigman Born Karoline Sophie Marie Wiegmann in Hannover, Germany on November 13, 1886, Mary Wigman was a dancer, choreographer, and instructor known as a founder of European modern dance.

Wigman studied with Émile Jaques-Dalcroze at the School of Rhythmic Gymnastics at Hellerau (1910-1913) and then with Rudolf von Laban at Monte Verità (1913), later becoming an assistant at his school. Wigman opened her own school, the Mary Wigman School, in Dresden in 1920, where it operated until 1942. This school offered higher education degrees in dance, including performance and instruction. Yvonne Georgi, Hanya Holm, Harald Kreutzberg, Gret Palucca, Max Terpis, Margarethe Wallman, and Inge Weiss number among Wigman's students and colleagues at the Dresden school. Under the direction of Wigman's protégée Hanya Holm, another school operated in New York City from 1931 to 1936. Wigman also taught in Leipzig (1942-1949) and later in West Berlin (1950-1973).

Noted for its juxtaposition of percussion and silence; its use of non-Western instruments, such as bells, gongs, and drums; and non-Western masks, Wigman's choreography pioneered expressionist dance.

On September 18, 1973, Mary Wigman died in Berlin, Germany.

Sources: "Mary Wigman, Dance Innovator, Dies," New York Times, September 20, 1973, 50. Proquest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times (1857-Current file) with Index (1851-1993).

Wikipedia. "Mary Wigman." Accessed September 28, 2011. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Wigman

From the guide to the Shirlee Dodge collection of Mary Wigman materials, 1922-1989, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)