 Dancing in Utopia: Dartington Hall and its dancers.
Author: Nicholas, Larraine Published: 2007 Purchased in 1925 by Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst, the Devon estate of Dartington Hall earned itself a place in the annals of utopian schemes through the Elmhirsts' conviction that art, education, and work could be integrated into an abundant life for the participation of all. A strand that runs through Dartington's history is the consistent belief in dance as an art form worthy of its place alongside the other arts, so that this rural paradise became a point of intersection for a complex interweaving of dancers and dance style, American, European, and South Asian. Here, for the first time, Larraine Nicholas traces Dartington's dance history in depth, revealing its fascinating array of dancing characters (including Margaret Barr, Rosemary Butcher, Mary Fulkerson, Kurt Jooss, Rudolf Laban, Sigurd Leeder, Steve Paxton, Louise Soelberg, and Lisa Ullman) and setting it within British dance history during a major part of the twentieth century. The book will be essential reading not only for dance scholars and students but also for a wider readership intrigued by the complex phenomenon of Dartington itself. |
