Alfred Brooks Pew (October 19, 1916 – December 15, 2005), better known by his

stage name A stage name or professional name is a pseudonym used by performers, authors, and entertainers—such as actors, comedians, singers, and musicians. The equivalent concept among writers is called a ''nom de plume'' (pen name). Some performers ...

Alfred Brooks, was an American dancer, choreographer, pianist, and stage actor. He was a co-founder of a

modern dance Modern dance is a broad genre of western concert dance, concert or theatrical dance which includes dance styles such as ballet, folk, ethnic, religious, and social dancing; and primarily arose out of Europe and the United States in the late 19th ...

company called Munt–Brooks Dance Studio, an early influencer of

counterculture A counterculture is a culture whose values and norms of behavior differ substantially from those of mainstream society, sometimes diametrically opposed to mainstream cultural mores.Eric Donald Hirsch. ''The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy''. Ho ...

, and later a co-founder of the

experimental theatre Experimental theatre (also known as avant-garde theatre), inspired largely by Richard Wagner, Wagner's concept of Gesamtkunstwerk, began in Western theatre in the late 19th century with Alfred Jarry and his Ubu Roi, Ubu plays as a rejection of bot ...

group, the Changing Scene Theatre.

Early life and education

Alfred Brooks Pew was born on October 19, 1916, in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more t ...

, Missouri, the youngest of five children born to Maysie Virginia (née Pittman) and John Brooks Pew. Brooks attended the

University of Virginia The University of Virginia (UVA) is a Public university#United States, public research university in Charlottesville, Virginia, United States. It was founded in 1819 by Thomas Jefferson and contains his The Lawn, Academical Village, a World H ...

; followed by study at the performing arts conservatory

Juilliard School The Juilliard School ( ) is a Private university, private performing arts music school, conservatory in New York City. Founded by Frank Damrosch as the Institute of Musical Art in 1905, the school later added dance and drama programs and became ...

in New York City, where he graduated with B.A and M.A. degrees in

musical composition Musical composition can refer to an Originality, original piece or work of music, either Human voice, vocal or Musical instrument, instrumental, the musical form, structure of a musical piece or to the process of creating or writing a new pie ...

. At Juilliard he studied under

Carl Friedberg Carl Rudolf Hermann Friedberg (September 18, 1872 in Bingen am Rhein, Bingen, German Empire, Germany – September 9, 1955 in Merano, Italy) was a German pianist and teacher of Jewish origin. Biography He was son of Eduard Friedberg (?–1937) ...

, as well as additional private study under

Roy Harris Roy Ellsworth Harris (February 12, 1898 – October 1, 1979) was an American composer. He wrote music on American subjects, and is best known for his Symphony No. 3. Life Harris was born in Chandler, Oklahoma on February 12, 1898. His ancestry ...

, and

Nadia Boulanger Juliette Nadia Boulanger (; 16 September 188722 October 1979) was a French music teacher, conductor and composer. She taught many of the leading composers and musicians of the 20th century, and also performed occasionally as a pianist and organis ...

of Paris. Brooks was first exposed to modern dance in college, and he studied dance under

Hanya Holm Hanya Holm (born Johanna Eckert; 3 March 1893 – 3 November 1992) is known as one of the "Big Four" founders of American modern dance. She was a dancer, choreographer, and above all, a dance educator. Early life, connection with Mary Wigman Bo ...

. He met his future wife Maxine Phyllis Munt at the Hanya Holm Studio, where she was teaching dancing. Munt was a graduate of the

University of Nebraska Omaha The University of Nebraska Omaha (UNO) is a public research university in Omaha, Nebraska, United States. Founded in 1908 by faculty from the Omaha Presbyterian Theological Seminary as a private non-sectarian college, the university was origin ...

, and she also taught dance at the

University of North Dakota The University of North Dakota (UND) is a Public university, public research university in Grand Forks, North Dakota, United States. It was established by the Dakota Territory, Dakota Territorial Assembly in 1883, six years before the establishm ...

, and later served as the founding dance department head and instructor at

Adelphi College Adelphi University is a private university in Garden City, New York, United States. Adelphi also has centers in Downtown Brooklyn, Hudson Valley, and Suffolk County in addition to a virtual, online campus for remote students. As of 2019, it had ...

(now Adelphi University) in Garden City on

Long Island, New York Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

Career

During

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Brooks was a

major Major most commonly refers to: * Major (rank), a military rank * Academic major, an academic discipline to which an undergraduate student formally commits * People named Major, including given names, surnames, nicknames * Major and minor in musi ...

in the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

and performed musicals with

Armed Forces Entertainment Armed Forces Entertainment (A.F.E) is the official United States Department of Defense (D.o.D) agency for providing entertainment to U.S. military personnel overseas. Armed Forces Entertainment hosts over 1,200 shows around the world each ye ...

both nationally and internationally for the

United States Armed Forces The United States Armed Forces are the Military, military forces of the United States. U.S. United States Code, federal law names six armed forces: the United States Army, Army, United States Marine Corps, Marine Corps, United States Navy, Na ...

. Some of his performances during his military service included Paul Green's ''Tread the Green Grass'' (1932), and

Gordon Jenkins Gordon Hill Jenkins (May 12, 1910 – May 1, 1984) was an American arranger, composer, and pianist who was influential in popular music in the 1940s and 1950s. Jenkins worked with The Andrews Sisters, Johnny Cash, The Weavers, Frank Sinatra, Lo ...

' ''Heaven Come Wednesday''. The partnership of Brooks and Munt started in the summer of 1948, they had co-directed a dance workshop at the creative arts center of Adelphi College. Brooks and Munt founded in 1952 the Munt–Brooks Dance Studio (or Munt–Brooks Dance Company) in New York City. In September 1950, the couple married in Paris, France. In 1968, Brooks and Munt opened the non-profit, theatre/dance school called the "Changing Scene" (or "Changing Scene Theatre") in

Denver Denver ( ) is a List of municipalities in Colorado#Consolidated city and county, consolidated city and county, the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Colorado, most populous city of the U.S. state of ...

, Colorado, after closing the Munt-Brooks Dance Studio a few years prior. Everything was volunteer based and was devoted to presenting not just dance and theatre but new work in all media. The Changing Scene was the first to have featured profanity, nudity and sexual situations on a Denver stage, and in 1968 they were raided by the Denver vice squad because, Brooks said, "officers misunderstood what an offering called "Organum''"'' must have been about". Brooks was a co-founder of the ''Colorado Theatre Guild''. After Maxine Munt's death in January 2000, the Changing Scene closed. The Changing Scene influenced a new generation of

bohemian Bohemian or Bohemians may refer to: *Anything of or relating to Bohemia Culture and arts * Bohemianism, an unconventional lifestyle, originally practised by 19th–20th century European and American artists and writers. * Bohemian style, a ...

theatre including the "Changing Scene Northwest", created by a former board member after they moved to Washington.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooks, Alfred 1916 births 2005 deaths American modern dancers American dance groups Artists from Denver Artists from Kansas City, Missouri Counterculture communities Entertainers from Kansas City, Missouri Juilliard School alumni United States Air Force Band musicians