Ruth St Denis (1877-1968). American-born dancer, choreographer, teacher and director

Ruth St Denis was born in New Jersey, in the USA, in 1877. In terms of her importance to modern dance, of her exotic dancing style and of her influence she is often compared to Isadora Duncan.

After working and dancing in various settings and groups in New York and elsewhere, in 1904 St Denis became entranced by a picture of the Egyptian goddess Isis, which she saw advertising Egyptian Deities cigarettes. In 1906 she created and starred in her own ballet, Radka, based on Indian Hindu themes and art. It was a huge success and began a series of tours for her in America and Europe. It was followed by a similarly sensational Salome, and other works based on folk and national, and especially oriental, themes.

In 1914 St Denis married the dancer Ted Shawn and, in 1915, they went on to form the Denishawn School in California, to promote her free dramatic style of modern dance. Among its many alumni were Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey and the film star Louise Brooks. The Denishawn School wound down in 1930. St Denis herself went on performing until 1932.

After that, St Denis continued to teach and direct for many years, both in her own studio in California and for the Adelphi University dance programme, which she founded in 1938. From the early 1940s, with Shawn, she was involved with the famous Jacob’s Pillow summer school and festival of dance. Ruth St Denis died in Hollywood in 1968, a hugely respected figure in American dance and in modern dance more generally.