For the 18th century French general, see Jean Erdman, Baron Dieskau.
Jean Erdman

Erdman (left) with husband, Joseph Campbell, and Joan Halifax
Born February 20, 1916 (1916-02-20) (age 92)
Honolulu, Hawaii, USA
Occupation Choreographer, dancer
Spouse(s) Joseph Campbell (1938-1987)

Jean Erdman (born February 20, 1916) is a dancer and choreographer of modern dance.

Contents

Biography

Early life

Erdman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. She attended the Punahou School and Miss Hall's School, from which she graduated in 1934. She then studied dance at Sarah Lawrence College. Each summer during this time she studied under Martha Graham at the Bennington College Summer School of Dance. At Sarah Lawrence she also studied with mythologist Joseph Campbell.

Career

Encouraged by Campbell to develop her work, Erdman left Martha Graham in 1944 to form her own company, the Jean Erdman Dance Group.

In 1949, Erdman starred in the unfinished Maya Deren film Medusa (1949) [1]. During the course of her career, many contemporary composers (including John Cage and Alan Hovhaness) wrote dance scores for her. She also collaborated with other important American composers, including Henry Cowell and Lou Harrison.

Erdman taught at a number of colleges, finally becoming head of the modern dance division of Teachers' College, Columbia University. She founded New York University's dance program and taught there from 1966-1972.

In 1962, Erdman's award-winning musical play, The Coach with the Six Insides, opened Off-Broadway. It ran for 114 performances, closing in 1963 [2]. The play is based upon James Joyce's last novel Finnegans Wake. The title is a line from the text, found in episode II.3.359 [3]. It starred Leonard Frey and had a musical score by Teiji Ito. The play, "is a combination of dance, mime, and Joycean stream-of-consciousness language. Like Joyce's work itself it addresses the question 'what is the past, and what is its meaning?' " [4].

Personal life

Erdman was married to Joseph Campbell in 1938, and she left school to join the Martha Graham Dance Company. After Campbell retired from Sarah Lawrence in 1972, he and Erdman settled in Honolulu, Hawaii.

Filmography

  • Invocation: Maya Deren (1987)
  • The Hero's Journey: The World of Joseph Campbell (1987)
  • Dance and Myth - The World of Jean Erdman (1990) [1]

Awards and nominations

Awards
Nominations

References

External links

Dance portal
v • d • e
Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Choreography

Grover Dale (1969) · Ron Field (1970) · Michael Bennett / Donald Saddler (1971) · Patricia Birch / Jean Erdman (1972) · Bob Fosse (1973) · Patricia Birch (1974) · George Faison (1975) · Bob Avian / Michael Bennett (1976) · Peter Gennaro (1977) · Bob Fosse (1978) · Bob Avian / Michael Bennett (1979) · Tommy Tune (1980) · Gower Champion (1981) · Tommy Tune / Thommie Walsh (1983) · Bob Fosse (1986) · Michael Smuin (1988) · Tommy Tune (1990) · Tommy Tune (1991) · Susan Stroman (1992) · Wayne Cilento (1993) · Jane Elliott / Kenneth MacMillan (1994) · Savion Glover (1996) · Ann Reinking (1997) · Garth Fagan (1998) · Matthew Bourne (1999) · Susan Stroman (2000) · Susan Stroman (2001) · Susan Stroman (2002) · Twyla Tharp (2003) · Kathleen Marshall (2004) · Jerry Mitchell (2005) · Kathleen Marshall (2006) · Andy Blankenbuehler (2007) · Rob Ashford (2008)
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Erdman"


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