Born: 22 March 1911, United States
Died: 25 June 2006
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).
Sophie Maslow was an American modern dance choreographer, performer, and teacher whose professional work in the field of dance began in the 1930s and spanned much of the 20th century. Born to Russian-American Jewish parents, Maslow’s work often engaged with folk, Jewish, communist, and populist themes.
Maslow graduated from the Neighborhood Playhouse in New York City where she trained with Blanche Talmud, Martha Graham, and Louis Horst. She performed with the Martha Graham Dance Company as a soloist for twelve years, during which time she began choreographing and performing her own works, including the solo Two Songs about Lenin (1934).
In 1942, Maslow began performing with Jane Dudley and William Bales as the Dudley-Maslow-Bales Trio. All three were also prominent members of the New Dance Group, an organization founded in 1932 to promote social change through dance. Maslow served as a president and faculty member of the New Dance Group, as well as forming her own company, the Sophie Maslow Dance Company.
Her choreography is notable for its focus on “the common people.” In 1942, Maslow choreographed Folksay, a medley of dances inspired by folk dance set to music by Woody Guthrie and text from Carl Sandburg’s poem “The People, Yes.” In the post-World War II era she choreographed The Village I Knew (1950), a seven-episode dance based on stories by Sholom Aleichem depicting Russian Jewish village life and exile. Her dance Anniversary (1952) commemorated the Warsaw Ghetto. She regularly choreographed for the Chanukah Festivals, a long-running series of performances and events that raised money for Israel. Additionally, Maslow choreographed for a number of theatrical and operatic productions, including New York City Opera’s The Dybbuk (1951).
Maslow held an honorary Doctor of Human Letters from Skidmore College (1984) and a number of awards and acknowledgments in the field of modern dance. She reconstructed the iconic Graham works Primitive Mysteries (1931), Celebration (1934), and sections of Chronicle (1936) for the Martha Graham Dance Company in 1994, and her own work has been restaged throughout the country and world.
Maslow was born in New York in 1911 and died there in 2006. She was married to Max Blatt, a teacher, with whom she had one daughter, Abby Blatt. Maslow was the first cousin of artist Leonard Baskin.
A partial list of works choreographed or co-choreographed by Maslow is listed chronologically below:
1934: Two Songs about Lenin, Death of Tradition, Themes from a Slavic People, Challenge
1936: May Day March
1937: Ragged Hungry Blues, Runaway Rag, Satiric Suite
1938: Women of Spain
1942: Folksay, Dust Bowl Ballads
1943: As Poor Richard Says, Llanto
1944: Spanish Suite
1945: Partisan Journey, Gigue (Alternate title: Bach Suite)
1948: Champion
1949: The Village I Knew
1951: Four Sonnets, The Dybbuk (opera)
1953: Manhattan Transfer
1954: Celebration, Sandhog (musical)
circa 1955: Scarlatti Suite
1956: Anniversary, Three Wishes for Jamie (musical)
1958: Raincheck
1959: Prologue
1960: The Machinal (musical), The Shoemaker and the Peddler (musical)
1963: Poem
1964: From the Book of Ruth, Neither Rest nor Harbor (Alternate title: The Dybbuk)
1965: Dance of Sabras, In the Beginning
1966: Invocation of David
1969: Ladino Suite
circa 1969: The Bacchae
1971: Country Music
circa 1971: Bintel Brief
1974: The Big Winner (musical)
1975: Songs for Women, Songs for Men, Such Sweet Thunder
1976: Decathlon Etudes
1978: Black Elk Speaks (Alternate title: Visions of Black Elk)
1980: Voices, Woody Sez
1985: From Louis’ Book