Born: 8 February 1906, United States
Died: 27 February 1992
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the Library of Congress. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
1906 February 8 Born in Middletown, Pennsylvania
1922 Moved with her family to Brooklyn, New York
1924 Enrolled at New York University to pursue a degree in journalism. Enrolled at the Clair Tree Major School of Theater in New York, New York, and studied dance with Priscilla Robineau
circa 1926 Studied at the Theater Guild School
1927-1928 Studied at Denishawn with Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman while Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn were on tour
1928 Joined the Humphrey-Weidman Company as one of its first members. Performed in Humphrey’s ballet Color Harmony
1930 Danced in Léonide Massine’s production of Le sacre du printemps at the Metropolitan Opera House
1931 Formed a small dance troupe named The Little Group with other members of the HumphreyWeidman Company: Letitia Ida, Charles Laskey, José Limón, and Ernestine Hedoch Stodelle. Performed in her first choreographed work with José Limón, titled B minor Suite, which exhibited J. S. Bach’s influence
1934 Attended the Bennington School of Dance with the Humphrey-Weidman Company
1935 Departed from the Humphrey-Weidman Company
1936 Summer Taught at the Perry-Mansfield Performing Arts School and Camp in Steamboat Springs, Colorado Cherie Jorgensen Collection on Jane Grossenbacher and Eleanor King 3
1937 May Produced her first major choreographed work, Icaro, a dance-drama set to the music of David Diamond and Franziska Boas, at the Brooklyn Museum Dance Center
1938 Awarded a fellowship at the Bennington School of Dance
1943 Briefly taught at Carleton College in Northfeld, Minnesota. Moved to Seattle. Choreographed To the West. Founded The Eleanor King Dance Repertory Company
1943-1944 Taught at the Cornish School of Arts in Seattle
1944 Attended the Salish Treaty Day Dances at La Connor, which introduced her to Native American dance traditions
1945 Choreographed Northwest Spirit Dance
1947 Established One World in Dance, a nine-week multi-cultural dance program
1952-1971 Taught dance, acting, and choreography at the University of Arkansas
1952 Toured across England, France, and the Netherlands
1955 Studied mime with Etienne Decroux in Paris
1958 Studied in Japan, with a subsequent trip in 1960-1961
1967 Awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to continue her dance studies in Japan. Choreographed The Well-Tempered Dancer, which displayed J. S. Bach’s influence
circa 1970 Completed her unpublished study The Way of Japanese Dance
1971 Retired in Santa Fe, New Mexico
1976-1977 Awarded a grant from the Vogelstein Foundation to study dance in Bali, Burma, Korea, Sri Lanka, and Thailand
1978 Published her autobiography Transformations: The Humphrey-Weidman Era
circa 1985 Completed her unpublished book Transformations: To the West
1987-1988 Annabelle Gamson performed acclaimed revivals of her works
1987 Awarded the New Mexico Governor’s Award for Excellence in the Arts
1989 Received a Choreographer’s Fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. Moved to the Actor’s Home in Haddonfield, New Jersey
1990-1991 Directed the American Dance Repertory Theater with Mino Nicolas
1991 February 27 Died in Haddonfield, New Jersey