Ted Shawn

In January 1969, just months before the Stonewall Riots, Ted Shawn (1891-1972) wanted to tell a story about how his life, writings, and dances contributed to the rapidly evolving gay liberation movement around him. Shawn died before he was able to put forth a candid account about how he, the "Father of American Dance," was homosexual, but he scrupulously archived his correspondence, diaries, photographs, and motion pictures of his dances, anticipating that the full significance of his choreography would reveal itself in time. Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances tells that story.