Ted Shawn
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Ted Shawn
Ted Shawn made his entry into the world on October 21, 1891, in Kansas City, Missouri. His father was an editor for the Kansas City Star newspaper, and his mother was a descendant of Edwin Booth, the famous American tragedian. Sadly, when he was still very young, he lost his mother, brother, and uncle all within a period of two years. Shortly after the tragedy, he moved to Denver, Colorado with his father where he would finish high school and enter the University of Colorado. During Ted's third year in college, he became seriously ill with diphtheria, which left him paralyzed for about a year. It was during his long recovery, which included learning to walk again and strengthening his body and legs, that he became determined to become a dancer.
In 1912 Ted moved to Los Angeles where he opened a small dance school and led a small company with three other dancers, which gave solo performances. It was on one of his cross-country trips to New York in 1914 that he met Ruth St. Denis, who became his dancing partner and later his wife. Together they founded Denishawn, a school that dominated American theatrical dancing for the next 15 years...