Although I don't believe any of you had the privilege of meeting her, I wanted to pass along the poignant news that the youngest and last of the Denishawn Dancers, Jane Sherman, passed away last night at the age of 101. She was a great friend to the Pillow, spending periods of time here in the early 1980s when she recreated Denishawn dances and helped us identify many of the vintage costumes in our collection. And she was a treasured friend of mine, exchanging countless letters over the years that were full of keen insights and feisty humor. She had very high standards and she could be quite tough, as evidenced by the many times I was taken to task for one reason or another, usually with clear justification. We collaborated on various ventures, most notably a cover article for Dance Magazine in 1995 about a previously unknown letter from Martha Graham to Ted Shawn and what it revealed about Graham's Denishawn heritage. Jane and I also worked closely on creating a paperback edition of Barton's autobiography in 2001 and on creating a video compilation of many Denishawn recreations that she had staged over the years. Jacob's Pillow plans to host a memorial celebration in her honor this summer.
Norton Owen
Director of Preservation
Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival
358 George Carter Road
Becket, MA 01223
413-243-9919, ext. 50
Fax 413-243-4744
nowen@jacobspillow.org
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