Genevieve Stebbins
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Genevieve Stebbins (March 7, 1857 – September 21, 1934) was an American author, teacher of her system of Harmonic Gymnastics and performer of the Delsarte system of expression. She published four books and was the founder of the New York School of Expression.


Early years

Genevieve Stebbins was born on March 7, 1857, in
San Francisco San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
,
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, to James Cole Stebbins and Henrietta Smith. Her mother died when she was two years old. As a young child she always loved to dance and perform.


Career


Theatre

Stebbins first came to
New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
from San Francisco to study for the stage, under a leading actress of
Albert Marshman Palmer Albert Marshman Palmer (July 27, 1838–March 7, 1905) was an American theatrical manager. He was universally known in the theatrical world by his initials A. M. Palmer. Biography Albert Marshman Palmer was born in North Stonington, Conne ...
's Union Square Theatre. After a Winter's course of instruction, she made her debut on the stage as leading juvenile of Palmer's Company, in ''Rose Michel''. The following year, she accepted an engagement under
Dion Boucicault Dionysius Lardner "Dion" Boucicault (né Boursiquot; 26 December 1820 – 18 September 1890) was an Irish actor and playwright famed for his melodramas. By the later part of the 19th century, Boucicault had become known on both sides of the ...
, and later, was playing the leading part in ''Our Boys'' at Daly's Theatre, when she met
Steele MacKaye James Morrison Steele MacKaye ( ; June 6, 1842 – February 25, 1894) was an United States of America, American playwright, actor, theater manager and inventor. Having acted, written, directed and produced numerous and popular plays and theatric ...
, the disciple and successor of
François Delsarte François Alexandre Nicolas Chéri Delsarte (; 19 November 1811 – 20 July 1871) was a French singer, orator, and coach. Though he achieved some success as a composer, he is chiefly known as a teacher in singing and declamation (oratory). Appl ...
, who persuaded her to retire from the stage and study the Delsarte System with him for two years, promising her the leading part in a play which he was writing at the time. Stebbins spent six months of this two years at the Boston University School of Oratory (later known as Boston School of Oratory), as MacKaye's representative, giving the system of Delsarte to pupils and teachers in exchange for private and class lessons in elocution from Prof. Lewis Baxter Monroe, Dean of that school. Nearly every well-known graduate of that school was under her instruction, and to her many of them were indebted for their entire knowledge of the Delsarte System. In May, 1879, Stebbins made her re-entrance on the stage as the leading lady of the
Madison Square Theatre The Madison Square Theatre was a Broadway theatre in Manhattan, on the south side of 24th Street between Sixth Avenue and Broadway (which intersects Fifth Avenue near that point). It was built in 1863, operated as a theater from 1865 to 1908, an ...
. The papers were unanimous in her praise. The following year, she accepted an engagement with
Helena Modjeska Helena Modrzejewska (; born Jadwiga Helena Mizel; October 12, 1840 – April 8, 1909), known professionally in the United States as Helena Modjeska, was a Polish-American actress who specialized in Shakespearean and tragic roles. She was success ...
's manager to play leading Shakespearian roles. In 1881, she went to
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to study with
François-Joseph Regnier François-Joseph-Philoclès Regnier de La Brière called Regnier (1 April 1807, in Paris – 27 April 1885, in Paris) was a 19th-century French actor and playwright. The comedian Alcide Tousez was his uncle. Biography After he studied at the ...
, President of the Conservatoire and Societaire of the Theatre Francois. On her return to the United States in 1882, Stebbins read in public and accepted other theatrical engagements.


Harmonic Gymnastics

In 1885, Stebbins published her first book, ''The Delsarte System of Expression''. Its immediate success decided her to become a lecturer and teacher. She became a special instructor in twenty-one New York schools, and recited and lectured in the principal cities and colleges of the United States. Feeling the need of a gymnastic system for girls that should have the charm of the dance and the physical value of the gymnasium, she elaborated a few Delsarte ideas combined with Ling aesthetic gymnastics and creative work of her own into a complete system of Harmonic Gymnastics. To perfect these gymnastic ideas, she made two more trips abroad, and studied in the U.S. with Dr. George H. Taylor, author of a valuable system of medical gymnastics. Stebbins' studied in physical culture included training in Swedish educational gymnastics, and aesthetic dance going to
Harvard Summer School Harvard Summer School, founded in 1871, is a summer school run by Harvard University. It serves more than 5,000 students per year. History Harvard Summer School was founded in 1871. It is the first academic summer session established and the o ...
in 1892 for that purpose. During her entire career she was interested in singing, and was the pupil of prominent masters, whose method she applied to training the speaking voice. In 1893, she founded the New York School of Expression in the Carnegie Music Hall, Mr. Astley (Stebbins' husband) being the Business Manager. Her 1893 school brochure listed prior pupils including Felix Adler, of the Ethical Society; Dr. and Mrs. S. S. Curry, of the Boston School of Expression; Dr. C. W. Emerson, founder of the Emerson College of Oratory; Mary Currier, Professor of Elocution at Wellesley; Dr. Canfield, President of Columbus University, Ohio; Professor Hayes, of Harvard; Frank Stuart Parker, Georgie Cayvan, Mrs. James Brown Potter, Mrs. Pierpont Morgan, Mrs. Benjamin Church, Mrs. Vincenzo Botta, Mrs. Post, Miss Vanderbilt, Mrs. John D. Rockefeller, Mrs. Alexander, Mrs. Richard McCurdy, and others; while classes were formed by the Seidl Society, the Musical Artists' Society, the Kindergarten Society, the Ethical Society and other clubs. Steele MacKaye wrote to her when she first launched forth as a teacher: "You are the only one of my pupils whom I can conscientiously recommend to teach what I teach myself"; while Regnier wrote: "You have the true artistic temperament, and I confidently prophesy for you the greatest success.£ Later F. Townsend Southwick (former teacher of oratory at the Academy of Dramatic Arts) joined forces with Stebbins in her school as the principal. She retired from the school in 1907. Stebbins embodied her method in several books including, ''Delsarte System of Expression'', ''Society Gymnastics and Voice Culture'', ''Dynamic Breathing and Harmonic Gymnastics'', ''Genevieve Stebbins' System of Physical Training''. She completed a new edition of her first work, ''The Delsarte System of Expression'' (New York: E. S. Werner Publishing Company), with a second part consisting of lectures and added instruction, illustrated by thirty-two pictures of statues.


Influence

Stebbins's work created more opportunities for late nineteenth-century American women to engage in
physical culture Physical culture, also known as body culture, is a health and strength training movement that originated during the 19th century in Germany, the UK and the US. Origins The physical culture movement in the United States during the 19th century ...
and expression, especially in the realm of dance. She provided the means, rationale, and model for what could be accepted as the appropriate practices for middle-class women. Her work in the Delsarte system facilitated the new "modern dance" which would develop in the United States and Europe in the twentieth century. It may also have contributed to the 20th century development of
yoga as exercise Yoga as exercise is a physical activity consisting mainly of asana, postures, often connected by vinyasa, flowing sequences, sometimes accompanied by pranayama, breathing exercises, and frequently ending with savasana, relaxation lying down or ...
.


Personal life

Stebbins was married to Joseph A. Thompson from 1888 until she divorced him in 1892. Stebbins was remarried to Norman Astley, a journalist, in April 1892. There is no record of Stebbins having children from either marriage. Genevieve Stebbins Astley died on September 21, 1934, in
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, California.California Death Index, 1905-1939


Selected works

* ''Drills: Appendix to Society''
''Delsarte System of Dramatic Expression''
1886 * ''Society gymnastics and voice-culture Adapted from the Delsarte System. 6th ed.'', 1888 * ''The New York School of Expression'', 1893
''Dynamic Breathing and Harmonic Gymnastics: A Complete System of Psychical, Aesthetic and Physical Culture''
1893 * ''The eve of marriage; monologue for a lady'', 1895 * ''Appendix to Society gymnastics, containing 1. Eastern temple drill, 2. Energizing dramatic drill, 3. Minuet fan drill, 4. An æsthetic drill.'', 1895 * ''Genevieve Stebbins's drills'', 1895 * ''Delsartian aesthetic drills'', 1913
''The Genevieve Stebbins System of Physical Training''
1913 * ''The Quest of the Spirit. By a Pilgrim of the Way. Edited and arranged by G. Stebbins.'', 1913


References


Bibliography

* * Nancy Lee Chalfa Ruyter (1999) ''The Cultivation of Body and Mind in Nineteenth-Century American Delsartism''. * Kelly Jean Lynch (2022): Aesthetic dance as woman's culture in America at the turn of the twentieth century: Genevieve Stebbins and the New York school of expression, Feminist Modernist Studies, DOI: 10.1080/24692921.2022.2144176 * Kelly Jean Mullan. (2020). Forgotten "New" Dancer of New York City's Gilded Age: Genevieve Lee Stebbins and the Dance as Yet Undreamed. Dance Research Journal, 52(3), 97–117. doi:10.1017/S0149767720000327 * Kelly Jean Mullan. "Somatics herstories: Tracing Elsa Gindler's educational antecedents Hade Kallmeyer and Genevieve Stebbins". Journal of Dance & Somatic Practices, Volume 9, Number 2, 1 September 2017, pp. 159–178(20) https://doi.org/10.1386/jdsp.9.2.159_1 * Kelly Mullan (2016) "Harmonic Gymnastics and Somatics: A Genealogy of Ideas". Currents: Journal of Body-Mind Centering. https://www.academia.edu/32938188/Harmonic_Gymnastics_and_Somatics * P. Edwards (1999). "Unstoried: Teaching Literature in the Age of Performance Studies". Theatre Annual, 52, 1–147. {{DEFAULTSORT:Stebbins, Genevieve 1857 births 1934 deaths 19th-century American actresses 19th-century American writers 19th-century American women writers 20th-century American writers 20th-century American women writers Actresses from San Francisco Schoolteachers from Massachusetts 19th-century American educators 19th-century American women educators American stage actresses Founders of American schools and colleges People associated with physical culture