American Delsartism: Precursor of an American Dance Art [1]

The focus of this article is not on the Delsarte System as taught in France, but rather on the American Delsarte System which derived from Delsarte’s work and also included techniques from other sources and independent discoveries. American Delsartism helped create an intellectual climate favourable to the emergence of a new dance art in America. The paper describes the transformation of the Delsarte System, the influences of his students, especially Steele Mackaye, the emergence of the ‘harmonic gymnastics’ and the popularization of this form of gymnastics by Genevieve Stebbins, a student of Mackaye. Stebbins furthered the Delsarte System in America through extensive work as a teacher, writer and performer. Most of her teaching was done in fashionable seminaries and academies for young ladies. In addition, she taught the Delsarte System and yoga breathing exercises to adult groups. The third phase of Delsartism was represented by Henrietta Russell. Its basic ideal was to treat life as art. The paper shows that American Delsartism was not an esoteric cult for the few. There is ample evidence that it was known and taught throughout the country and touched a large portion of the middle and upper classes.