ABSTRACT
As we have seen, the reasons why theatrical dance was not considered important in America before the twentieth century are highly complex and have to be considered on a number of different but interrelated levels. The social environment of the early colonies did not lend itself well to the development of formal sophisticated artistic entertainment. Although modern cities developed in the nineteenth century along with a heterogeneous urban population that could support such formal entertainment, there were still no permanent companies to enable the creative development of American dance. Such art dance that did exist was under the control of Europeans and Americans who were oriented to European ideals rather than those of America. Ballet to Americans was utterly foreign. During the romantic era, it presented a never-neverland of fairies danced by beautiful women, and later it presented fairy tales, with added special theatrical effects and a host of female dancers who were scantily clad. European ballet did not engage the imaginations of the leaders of America to a sufficient extent to entice them to support it and make it part of American culture. Moreover, the stigmas attached to theatrical dancing and dancers remained in the minds of the American public long after Puritanism had ceased to be a religious force.
