Eleanor Campbell King (1906–1991) was an American modern dancer,

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, and educator. She was a member of the original Humphrey-Weidman company, where she was a

principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...

in the pioneering

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 ...

movement in New York City, then moving on to choreography and founding her own dance company in

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. She was a

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at the

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, where she taught from 1952 to 1971, before retiring to

Santa Fe, New Mexico Santa Fe ( ; , literal translation, lit. "Holy Faith") is the capital city, capital of the U.S. state of New Mexico, and the county seat of Santa Fe County. With over 89,000 residents, Santa Fe is the List of municipalities in New Mexico, fourt ...

, to start a new course of study into classical Japanese and Korean dance. She choreographed over 120 dance works, and wrote extensively for a variety of dance publications. In 1948, she was named Woman of the Year in Seattle, and in 1986 was listed as a "Santa Fe Living Treasure", also receiving the New Mexico Governor's Artist Award. In 2000, her archive was recognized by the White House Millennium Council's " Save America's Treasures" program.

Biography

King was born on February 8, 1906, in Middletown, Pennsylvania, to George Ilgenfritz and Emma Kate Campbell King. She was the third of six children: Marion, George, Eleanor, Lucile, Robert and John. She attended Clare Tree Major School of the Theatre in 1925, and Theatre Guild School in 1926, studying dance with Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman. Humphrey and Weidman had been involved with the pioneering Denishawn School in

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, and then split off to form their own Humphrey-Weidman dance company. King began taking classes from them, and was then invited to be a part of the new dance company. She made her 1928 debut in ''Color Harmony'', considered the first American abstract ballet. In 1930, she appeared in Leonide Massine's ''Sacre du Printemps'' at the Metropolitan Opera House. She stayed with the company until 1935, when she began soloing and choreographing. In 1937 she was a co-founder of the Theater Dance Company, and her first major work, ''Icaro'', was produced in 1938. She became known for choreography based on works of literature, from

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

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. In 1942, she formed the Eleanor King Dance Repertory Company in

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, followed by the Eleanor King Dance Studio in 1945. In 1955, she studied

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with Étienne Decroux. In the late 1950s, she began studying Japanese Noh dances. Her first performance of these was in

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in 1958. She created the Theatre of the Imagination program at the

, where she taught for much of her career, from 1952 to 1971. She was an assistant professor from 1952 to 1967, associate professor from 1967 to 1971, and was awarded professor emerita status in 1971. In her retirement, she moved to

, and at age 70 began studying classic Korean dance. In the 1980s revivals of her work were staged by Annabelle Gamson in 1987 and 1988 in New York. The solos were praised in ''

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'' for their "eloquence and for Miss King's careful shaping of ideas and feelings".

Death

King was a member of the Congress on Research in Dance, and director of Mino Nicolas' American Dance Repertory Theater, a position she held until her death on February 27, 1991, aged 85, in

Englewood, New Jersey Englewood is a city in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Englewood was incorporated as a city by an act of the New Jersey Legislature on March 17, 1899, from portions of Ridgefield Township and the remaining portions of Engle ...

Writing

* ''Transformations: The Humphrey-Weidman Era'' (Memoir), Dance Horizons (Brooklyn, NY), 1978 * King, Eleanor. ''The Way of Japanese Dance: an Illustrated Journal'', 1982 (unpublished) * (started) ''Transformations II: To The West''

Eleanor King Trust

The Eleanor King Trust was founded by Andrea Mantell-Seidel, dancer/educator, who was King's primary protégé for 18 years. The Trust was formed to preserve and promote the work of Eleanor King. Trustees include: * Dr. Joann Kealiinohomoku, executive director, Cross-Cultural Dance Resources * Daniel Lewis, Dean of New World School of the Arts, Dance Division * Nicole Plett, Dance Critic, ''

Awards

Jane Cowl Jane Cowl (December 14, 1883 – June 22, 1950) was an American film and Theatre, stage actress and playwright who was, in the words of author Anthony Slide, "notorious for playing tear jerkers, lachrymose parts". Actress Jane Russell was named ...

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'' Essay Contest, gold medal, 1923 * Bennington School of the Dance, fellowship, 1938 * "Woman of the Year", Seattle, 1948 *

Fulbright The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people ...

research grants, 1967, 1976, 1977 * American Association of Dance Companies, honoree, 1975 * Vogelstein Foundation grant, 1976 * Santa Fe Dance Umbrella, 1980 * Santa Fe Living Treasure, 1986 * New Mexico Governor's Award for Excellence in the Arts, 1987 *

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the feder ...

Fellowship, 1988

References

Sources

*''International Dictionary of Modern Dance'', St. James Press (Detroit, Michigan), 1998 *Jowitt, Deborah,''

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'', March 13, 1991 (obituary) *Cass, Joan, ''Dancing through History,'' Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1993 * * *''

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'', 2007 * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:King, Eleanor 1906 births 1991 deaths American female dancers Dancers from New York (state) American choreographers Dance in New York City American modern dancers People from Haddonfield, New Jersey People from Middletown, Pennsylvania Artists from Seattle Artists from Santa Fe, New Mexico Educators from Seattle 20th-century American dancers Educators from Pennsylvania Educators from New Jersey 20th-century American women educators 20th-century American educators