13 Facts About Ted Shawn

Ted Shawn was the founder and creator of Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival in Massachusetts.

Ted Shawn was born in Kansas City, Missouri on October 21,1891.

In 1912, Shawn relocated to Los Angeles where he became part of an exhibition ballroom dance troupe with Norma Gould as his partner.

Subsequently, Ted Shawn formed an all-male dance company of athletes he taught at Springfield College, with the mission to fight for acceptance of the American male dancer and to bring awareness of the art form from a male perspective.

The all-male company was based out of a farm that Ted Shawn purchased near Lee, Massachusetts.

Ted Shawn performed in the United States and Canada, touring more than 750 cities, in addition to international success in London and Havana.

Ted Shawn had a romantic relationship with one of his dancers, Barton Mumaw, from 1931 to 1948.

Later, Ted Shawn formed a partnership with Christian, with whom he stayed from 1949 until his death in 1972.

Ted Shawn taught classes at Jacob's Pillow just months before his death at the age of 80.

In 1965, Ted Shawn was a Heritage Award recipient of the National Dance Association.

Ted Shawn wrote and published nine books that provided a foundation for Modern Dance:.

The museum subsequently deaccessed these works, giving them to New York Public Library for the Performing Arts and Jacob's Pillow archive, while Ted Shawn was still alive.

Dancer Adam Weinert saw this as a violation of MoMA's policy not to sell or give away works by living artists, and created The Reaccession of Ted Shawn, digital, augmented reality performances of Shawn's works to be displayed in MoMA.