Bird Larson

Bird Larson

Bird Larson

Bird Larson
Bornc. 1887
Mora, Minnesota
DiedSeptember 23, 1927
Brooklyn, New York
Other namesBird Larsen, Bird Sophia Larson, Birdie Sophie Larson, Bird L. Berglin, Bird L. Steele
OccupationsDancer, physical education teacher, dance teacher

Bird Larson (b. c. 1887 – September 23, 1927) was a physical education instructor at Barnard College (Teacher's College, Columbia University) in New York. She became an influential figure in the early development of American modern dance.

Life and work

Larson was born around 1887 in Mora, Minnesota, to Swedish immigrant parents.[1][2][3]

She was influenced by the ideas of François Delsarte.[4] Larsen's system "was to have enormous influence in subsequent years on physical educational dance. Later she took her system out of the educational and into the professional field and she came to be recognized as the first technician of American dance."[5] Dance historians view her as "a bridge" between Gertrude Colby and Margaret H'Doubler, and she "was the first college educator to look at dance as separate from any dependency on music and storylines."[6]

Bird Larson - Natural Exercises for Gracefulness (1922)

She did some liturgical choreography: "Between 1920 and 1924 at St. Mark's-in-the-Bowrie, for example, Miss Bird Larson directed a yearly dance-rendering of the Della Robbia Annunciation."[7] She eventually left Barnard to focus on "dance pageantry" and "teaching and exploring natural movement forms privately, at a rented studio."[8]

She died at age 39 at Brooklyn Hospital of cardiac arrest and a pulmonary embolism seven days post-op from a Caesarean section operation.[9][10][11] Her sudden death inspired José Limón's 1929 solo, Go Down Death.[12] Scholastic examination of her work began in the 1960s under the influence of the National Dance Guild.[13]

References

  1. ^ "Entry for Andrew Larson and Sophia A Larson, 1900". United States, Census, 1900. FamilySearch.
  2. ^ "Entry for Bird S Larson, 1920". United States, Census, 1920. FamilySearch.
  3. ^ "Entry for John O. Berglin and Bird Sophia Larson, 14 April 1923". New York, New York City Marriage Records, 1829–1938. FamilySearch.
  4. ^ Vertinsky, Patricia (October 2009). "Transatlantic Traffic in Expressive Movement: From Delsarte and Dalcroze to Margaret H'Doubler and Rudolf Laban". The International Journal of the History of Sport. 26 (13): 2031–2051 [2045 n. 19]. doi:10.1080/09523360903148879. ISSN 0952-3367.
  5. ^ Kleinman, Seymour (January 1969). "Dance, the Arts, and the University". Journal of Aesthetic Education. 3 (1): 49–54 [51]. doi:10.2307/3331461.
  6. ^ Hagood, Thomas K. (2000). "Moving in Harmony with the Body: The Teaching Legacy of Margaret H'Doubler, 1916–1926". Dance Research Journal. 32 (2): 32–51 [35]. doi:10.2307/1477980. ISSN 0149-7677.
  7. ^ La Mothe, Kimerer L. (1998). "Passionate Madonna: The Christian Turn of American Dancer Ruth St. Denis". Journal of the American Academy of Religion. 66 (4): 747–769 [748 n.1]. ISSN 0002-7189.
  8. ^ Saumaa, Hiie (2016). "Alys Bentley's Dance Impulse, Embodied Learning, and the Dancing Mind". Dance Chronicle. 39 (3): 249–278 [257–258]. ISSN 0147-2526.
  9. ^ D-K-1927-0017820 - NYC Municipal Archives - Name: Bird L Steele - Soundex: S340 - Age: 39 y - Type: Death Certificate - Borough: Kings (Brooklyn) - Date: 1927-09-23 - Certificate: 17820
  10. ^ "Mrs. J. Franklin Steele". Elmira Star-Gazette. September 29, 1927. p. 15. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  11. ^ "Forum Column". Barnard Bulletin. March 1, 1929. p. 1. Retrieved 2026-07-23.
  12. ^ Limón, José (1998). Garafola, Lynn (ed.). José Limón : an unfinished memoir. Studies in Dance History. Hanover, New Hampshire: University Press of New England. pp. 159 n. 58. ISBN 978-0-8195-6374-3 – via Internet Archive.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: date and year (link)
  13. ^ Rowe, Patricia A.; Horosko, Marian (August 1969). "Report of Annual CORD Membership Meeting, Part II". CORD News. 1 (2): 2–21 [6]. doi:10.2307/1477579.

Further reading

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