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August 26, 1931. After Shawn and St. Denis split, Shawn retired to his farm in the
Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts and began to teach dance as physical education at a nearby college. The farm, called Jacob's Pillow after a large boulder in the woods, soon became the home of Shawn's all-male dance troupe, known as Ted Shawn and His Men Dancers, and later home of the Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, which continues to flourish there today. Mumaw joined Shawn's troupe at its inception in 1933 and remained with it until it disbanded in 1940, having toured extensively throughout the United States. The company's athletic style and powerful dances appealed to Depression-era audiences and did much to make dancing seem like a respectable profession for men. Although not billed as such, Mumaw was unquestionably the star dancer of the troupe.
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After Shawn's company folded, Mumaw toured the concert dance circuit as a soloist, performing works choreographed for him by Shawn as well as works of his own making. Following
America's entry into World War II, in December 1941, Mumaw joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and, after basic training as a
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Born in
Hazleton, Pennsylvania, and reared in Eustis, Florida, Mumaw began his dance training with a local ballet teacher when he was a boy of fifteen. He also took classes with Berte Rita Lipton, who taught him some fundamentals of modern dance, and he began to study ballet in earnest through a
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An adept student with physical attributes well suited to dance, Mumaw progressed quickly under Shawn's tutelage. While serving as Shawn's driver and dresser, he joined the
Denishawn company and performed in the company's last performance at the Lewisohn Stadium with the New York Philharmonic on
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In his memoir, Mumaw reveals that he was Shawn's lover for many years (1931–1948) and records how their involvement affected every aspect of their professional lives. Since same-sex couples were not socially acceptable at the time, the two took great pains to conceal the true nature of their
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relationship so that no one could accuse dance of being morally questionable. In recognition of his importance in Shawn's life and career and in the development of modern dance, Mumaw is memorialized as the figure on the weather vane atop the Ted Shawn
Theater at Jacob's Pillow.
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Upon returning to civilian life, Mumaw revived his theatrical career as a soloist in concerts and pageants staged by former colleagues in the dance world. In 1947, Helen
Tamiris invited him to take the dancing role of Wild Horse in the national company of
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mechanic, had the good fortune to be assigned to
Special Services, a unit created to produce shows to entertain the troops. As a kind of show-business soldier, he served in the military until the end of the war in 1945.
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Mumaw's "as-told-to" autobiography is the basic source for all biographical and professional information given herein. It contains a detailed list of dances performed, 1933–1981.
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Throughout his life, Mumaw remained fondly attached to the state of
Florida, where he had grown up and to which he periodically returned to visit his family. In 1953 he staged
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47:. It altered the course of his life: entranced by the troupe's choreographic eclecticism and theatrical vividness, he resolved to go to New York to study at Denishawn.
22:(August 20, 1912 – June 18, 2001) was an American dancer and choreographer who performed in modern dance concerts and musical theater productions. He was the muse of
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In later life, Mumaw focused on preserving the history and dances of Ted Shawn. He staged Shawn's choreography at workshops throughout the country, notably setting
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Veronine
Vestoff Académie de Danse: A Series of Instructions and Lessons for Becoming a Successful Stage Dancer or Teacher, Classical Ballet Specialty
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for the Alvin Ailey
American Dance Theater in 1972, and he supervised revivals of numerous Shawn works at Jacob's Pillow. He can be seen teaching
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mail-order course from the Veronine Vestoff School of the Ballet in New York City. In 1930, at 18, Mumaw attended a dance program by the
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This film, which includes historic footage of the company, is commercially available on DVD, issued by Emerging Entertainment.
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The Men Who Danced: The Story of Ted Shawn's Men Dancers and the Birth of Jacob's Pillow, 1933-1940
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109:, a historical pageant about the Seminole Indian wars, in Lake Wales, and in 1977 he staged
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75:(1950–1951), staged by de Mille and choreographed by Hanya Holm. This was followed by
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279:(1986; reprint, Middletown, Conn.: Wesleyan University Press, 2000), pp. 1–19.
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Archival footage of Barton Mumaw performing Bourrée in 1940 at Jacob's Pillow
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Barton Mumaw and Jane Sherman, "Ted Shawn: Teacher and Choreographer."
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Barton Mumaw, Dancer: From Denishawn to Jacob's Pillow and Beyond
266:(New York, 1926). A home-study course in thirty-six lessons.
302:(New York: Oxford University Press, 1998), vol. 5, p. 585.
98:(1935) and reminiscing about his years at the Pillow in
359:"Barton Mumaw, 88, Dancer; Member of Ted Shawn Troupe"
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102:, a 1989 documentary film directed by Ron Honsa.
87:(1963), a college production in Eugene, Oregon.
83:(1956–1962), both choreographed by Holm, and
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37:Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts
298:Christina L. Schlundt, "Shawn, Ted," in
311:Kitty Cunningham, "Jacob's Pillow," in
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324:Sherman and Mumaw (2000), pp. 67–76.
313:International Encyclopedia of Dance
300:International Encyclopedia of Dance
431:20th-century American LGBTQ people
421:People from Hazleton, Pennsylvania
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16:American dancer and choreographer
203:(music, Scarlatti; chor., Mumaw)
275:Jane Sherman and Barton Mumaw,
245:(music, Respighi; chor., Shawn)
231:(music, Scriabin; chor., Shawn)
224:(music, Fuleihan; chor., Shawn)
217:(music, Berlin; chor., Tamiris)
194:Funerailles: War and the Artist
168:(music, Korngold; chor., Shawn)
124:Gnossienne: A Priest of Knossos
356:Jack Anderson (21 June 2001).
238:(music, Debussy; chor., Mumaw)
208:Osage-Pawnee Dance of Greeting
147:(music, Lecuona; chor., Shawn)
133:(music, Milhaud; chor., Shawn)
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243:O Brother Sun and Sister Moon
189:(music, Bartók; chor., Mumaw)
175:(music, Meeker; chor., Mumaw)
161:(music, Meeker; chor., Shawn)
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140:(music, Meeker; chor., Mumaw)
210:(music, Grunn; chor., Shawn)
196:(music, Liszt; chor., Mumaw)
126:(music, Satie; chor., Shawn)
315:(1998), vol. 3, pp. 571-72.
182:(music, Bach; chor., Mumaw)
26:, pioneer of modern dance.
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39:, the company directed by
166:Pierrot in the Dead City
96:Pierrot in the Dead City
411:American modern dancers
426:American LGBTQ dancers
145:Cutting the Sugar Cane
111:Royal Hunt of the Sun
236:I'll Make Me a World
187:The God of Lightning
337:4.2 (1980), 91-112.
365:The New York Times
262:Veronine Vestoff,
117:Selected repertory
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173:The Banner Bearer
131:The French Sailor
73:Out of This World
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416:2001 deaths
406:1912 births
79:(1954) and
400:Categories
250:References
215:Wild Horse
372:2 January
69:Oklahoma!
41:Ted Shawn
30:Biography
24:Ted Shawn
180:Bourrée
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