Walk like an Egyptian: the dance of Ruth St Denis

Ruth St Denis is my new everything-icon. She was a true bohemian, a pioneer in modern dance whose approach lay somewhere between the Grecian fluidity of Isadora Duncan, the stylised intensity of Martha Graham and the improvisational flounces of Kate Bush. St Denis was the first solo dancer to introduce a style and aesthetic inspired by Egyptian, East Asian and Indian rituals to an unsuspecting Western audience. Her dances embody visions inspired by figures of divinity. Detractors may argue about the idea of a white woman appropriating sacred dances from the east, but St Denis never lay claims to authenticity. The same argument can be applied today when we look at how pop music and fashion adopt religious iconography.

St Denis trained in ballet and Delsarte technique, and began her career in vaudeville. She took her inspiration from poetic sources: photos in encyclopedias, watching skirt dancers at Coney Island and, famously, an arresting advertisement featuring Isis for Egyptian Deities cigarettes.

When you look at these sepia photos, you can see why St Denis’s distinctively decorative style was so significant. The billowing drapery of her costumes and glorious spiral forms combine with the grandeur of the Yosemite mountains to create a mystical study of nature, a new awareness of reality. Dance becomes a symbol of creation: here lies the creative spirit of Ruth St Denis incarnate.