Women Pioneers Who Changed Dance
- Frankie-Robin Jensen
- Apr 6
- 3 min read
Happy International Women’s Month to all you Frankie fans who identify as female!! :) I hope you are all feeling empowered this month. I certainly am! If you are not feeling that full empowerment yet, I hope I make you feel proud to be a woman by sharing some women who make me proud!
I want to talk about the women who inspire me: women dancers! I have so many that inspire me that I couldn’t mention them all here. If I did, this blog would be a million words longer because every girl who dances inspires me! There are so many women throughout history that changed dance into what it is today.
It’s inspiring to know that anyone can change dance by creating a new form or style! Us dancers still pave history today by practicing the art of dancing.
I want to talk about the “mother of modern dance” first: European dancer Martha Graham! She helped modernize dance by making it more realistic for women because she celebrated real bodies. She didn’t strive for unrealistic images, instead, she celebrated women’s bodies by making them the center of her stories. Her dances were about connecting women to their inner selves. She broke away from traditional ballet to focus more on sharper movements to show high energy and show the conflicts between women to them accept themselves. She shows true women and inspires people to be and love themselves. Martha was in Time Magazine as one of the 100 most influential people. She definitely made my list!
Katherine Durham is another dancer who modernized dance. Katherine was a social activist who fought against racial and gender injustices. She danced during segregation, but mixed elements of ballet, modern dance, and dance forms of Africa and West Indies to create a Jazz dance style. This style reflects African American culture and heritage. She brought African Americans to modern dance and helped make dance inclusive for everyone. Katherine went on to run a dance company that was the only self-supporting African American dance company for thirty years, and created a dance troupe. Her dance group was cast in an all Black cast for the movie “Stormy Weather” in the 1940s.
German expressionist dancer Mary Wigman empowers the body through her dance. Mary grew up during World War 1 and saw a lot of emotional suffrage. She saw a lot of people sad and unable to have a way to get out their sorrow. Dance helped her express and changed her feelings. She is the founder of dance therapy— a form of therapy that helps people dance to release their pent-up feelings and to freely express themselves. She helped show limited gender representation through her dancing as well.
A dancer who focused on non-binary gender was Canadian dancer Marie Chouinard. Her dance is called body art because of how beautiful it is. She did not focus on the differences between female and masculine beauty; instead, she saw gender as non-binary (which was very ahead of her time from being in the 80’s!) and focused on the body as a whole. She diminished stereotypes of feminine and masculine bodies by creating dances this way. It is so inclusive and I’m so proud she created this art, especially during this time period when it was even harder for non-binary people to have representation. Marie paved the way for non-binary people to have a voice and thrive in dance.
The last dancer I want to talk about is the pioneer of modern dance: Ruth St. Denis! She integrated Asian forms—such as yoga—and eastern forms into her dancing. She studied Hindu art and philosophy and performed dances telling Hindu stories. An example is a dance called Radha she performed about a milkmaid and the Hindu god Krishna. She also founded a dancing school with her husband, Ted Shawn. I love how she brought so many different cultures alive in her dances. It is so important for all women to be included!
Who are your favorite dancers who identify as women? Who inspires you the most and makes you feel the most empowered?
If you’re looking for a fun way to change up your dance routine, check out my Jet Setter Travel Kit! And remember to follow me on my socials to feel empowered and see more dance inspiration!
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Talk Soon,
Frankie J
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