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occurred before and after falling. From these ideas came suspension, or the "body's resistance to gravity"; and succession, or the "progressive unfolding of the body as an impulse flows from joint to joint". This created a whole new vocabulary of movements, which included much floor work, jumping, and falling. In addition to his unique new way of moving, Weidman brought a personal element to the dance world: his dramatic abilities. "Arguably, no one has dramatic skill equal to
Weidman". His choreography was expressive and usually very emotional. His work's emotions ranged from comedy to seriousness—yet the expression is always important and always present in his choreography.
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oneself but also to express the time in which one lived. There was a belief in the future". In a time when change was coming rapidly and innovations were popular, Weidman brought this to the dance world and changed dance forever. While
Weidman began his choreography during this immense time of change, he also choreographed for four decades after he began. He worked through the
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Weidman changed the way dance was danced by working in different parameters. His contributions to the field were recognized when he received the
Heritage Award in 1970. One of his former dancers said "all male dancers took concepts from Charles." In his company he trained famous choreographers such
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and teacher. He is well known as one of the pioneers of modern dance in
America. He wanted to break free from the traditional movements of dance forms popular at the time to create a uniquely American style of movement. Born in 1901, he choreographed from the 1920s until his death in 1975. While he
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Weidman's movement vocabulary was based on gravity. In concentrating on this element, the "fall was rediscovered." The idea was to explore how giving into gravity makes one fall, while balancing one's body against gravity could create movement as well. In addition, he emphasized the movements that
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Charles
Weidman wanted to create a uniquely American style of movement. He wanted to develop movement that was not based on animals or bugs or fairy tale stories like the common themes in popular ballets. He also wanted to break free from the current ideas of modern dance embodied by the Denishawn
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music began to flourish, dancing became a popular activity, technology flourished, and the United States enjoyed a general sense of economic development. According to
Weidman, "It was a positive time, one that said yes to human values, a time full of vitality, there was that urgent need to express
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Weidman was also well known for the range of choreographic styles in which he worked. He worked in several different elements including religious, comedic, tributary and serious work. Arguably his most famous work,
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and many of his ideas are still the basis for modern dance today. Unfortunately, his work is not well known and has been hard to reconstruct because very little of it is on tape and only some of it is in
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Company, but soon decided to break free from their exotic style of movement and create a new style that was unique to
America. He started the Humphrey-Weidman Company with
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Company (of which he was a member). He wanted to "dance man and woman in
America today". He was most famous for his work with Doris Humphrey, with whom he started the
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247:. Charles Weidman created a new style of dance by rejecting ballet and embracing gravity. He helped lay the foundations for
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Charles
Weidman began choreographing in a time of great change in American culture. He began his career as a dancer for the
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Daniel, Clay. "Reconstructing
Weidman: A Dancer's Perspective." Dance Research Journal. 39,2 (Winter, 2007): 83-98.
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Program from Charles Weidman and Members of the Theatre Dance Company, Expression of Two Arts Theatre, 1971
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Charles Weidman School of Modern Dance, Inc. Records, circa 1908–1975 - The New York Public Library
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National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame
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http://oberon481.typepad.com/oberons_grove/2010/05/weidmanbach-project-.html
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Weidman, Charles. Flickers. produced by Ted Steeg Productions, Inc. 1941.
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Company. The two met when they were dancing in the Denishawn Company (of
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Prod. Janet Mendelshon and Virginia Brooks. Dance Horizons Video. 1990.
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Prod. Janet Mendelshon and Virginia Brooks. DanceHorizons Video. 1990.
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Charles Weidman collection, 1800s-1979 - The New York Public Library
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