Helen Tamiris was a pioneer of American modern dance.

American choreographer, modern dancer, and teacher, one of the first to make use of jazz, African American spirituals, and social-protest themes in her work.

« Helen Tamiris (1903-1966), a founder of modern dance in the 1920s and 1930s, always kept a foot firmly planted in the commercial theater. She was trained in ballet at the Metropolitan Opera and by Michel Fokine, as well as in natural dancing at New York’s Isadora Duncan Studio. Her early career combined a soloist position in the Bracale Opera Company with appearances in nightclub and Broadway revues. Yet her first recital in 1927 demonstrated a personal expression of abstract movement and frank social analysis. A year later she adopted the Negro spiritual as a métier for life as conflict. Politically active, Tamiris helped to lead development of the Dance Repertory Theatre and dance initiatives under the Works Progress Administration Federal Art Project. She founded and chaired the American Dance Association and helped to set up the Federal Dance Project. Following World War II, she turned to Broadway to attract large audiences for a modern dance aesthetic that aspired to shape consciousness of the people. Tamiris choreographed eighteen musicals between 1943-1957, artfully integrating dance into such productions as Up in Central Park, Annie Get Your Gun, and Fanny. She taught movement to dancers and actors and formed the Tamiris-Nagrin Dance Workshop in 1957 with Daniel Nagrin, who was her husband at the time. » Helen Tamiris, an essay by Elizabeth McPherson.

Man Ray- Portrait of the Dancer Helen Tamiris, 1925-1929

Man Ray- Portrait of the Dancer Helen Tamiris, 1925-1929

Man Ray- Portrait of the Dancer Helen Tamiris, 1925-1929