Ruth St. Denis

Ruth St. Denis, born Ruth Dennis, was an American pioneer of modern dance who lived from 20 January 1879 to 21 July 1968; she introduced Eastern ideas into the art form and helped pave the way for other women in dance, drawing inspiration from the Delsarte advocate Genevieve Stebbins. In 1915 she co-founded the American Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts, where her students included Martha Graham and Doris Humphrey, and in 1938 she founded the pioneering dance program at Adelphi University. She published several articles on spiritual dance and the mysticism of the body, and was inducted into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame in 1987.