Elizabeth S. Selden Explained

Elizabeth S. Selden
Birth Name:Elizabeth Schmidinger
Birth Date:August 3, 1887
Birth Place:Stein, Carniola, Austrian Empire (now Kamnik, Slovenia)
Death Date:September 1970 (aged 83)
Occupation:Choreographer, dance scholar
Notable Works:The Dancer's Quest: Essays on the Aesthetic of Contemporary Dance (1935)

Elizabeth Schmidinger Selden (August 3, 1887 – September 1970)[1] was an Austrian-born American dancer, lecturer, and writer, author of The Dancer's Quest: Essays on the Aesthetic of Contemporary Dance (1935) and Elements of the Free Dance (1930). After World War II, she wrote and spoke on international friendship and peace.

Early life and education

Elizabeth Schmidinger was born in Stein, Carniola in the Austrian Empire (now known as Kamnik in Slovenia), the daughter of Karl Schmidinger. She moved to the United States in the 1915. Artist Walter Pach signed her petition for naturalization as a United States citizen in 1920.[2] She changed her surname in the process of naturalization, and made a note to that effect in her application for a United States passport in 1921.[3]

She studied languages and modern dance in Europe and New York.[4] [5] She earned a bachelor's degree in 1935, and a master's degree in German in 1937, both from the University of California, Berkeley.[6] [7] Her master's thesis was titled "The German interest in Chinese culture and its bearing on the poetry of the late Romantic period, as expressed in Goethe's Chinesisch-deutsche Jahres und Tageszeiten and in Rückert's Schi-King".[8]

Career

Selden was a dancer,[9] [10] writer,[11] and lecturer,[12] [13] [14] based in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in the 1910s and 1920s, and in California in the 1930s and 1940s.[15] She was a member of the Concert Dancers League of New York. She traveled to back Germany several times for research. In addition to her books on dance,[16] she also wrote and spoke on European fascinations with East Asian cultures,[17] and was active in international activities at the University of California and in Oakland.[18] "For the first time in history," she wrote in 1947, "at least the physical obstacles to world friendship have been removed."

Publications

Personal life and legacy

Selden died in 1970, at the age of 83. The University of California, Irvine, holds a small collection of Selden's papers.[24] Stanford University's Hoover Institution Library also holds a small collection of Selden's papers.[25]

Notes and References

  1. Birth and death dates from the U.S. Social Security Death Index, via Ancestry.
  2. Elizabeth Schmidinger, also known as Elizabeth Selden, Petition for Naturalization dated September 9, 1920, New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943, via Ancestry
  3. Birth place, father's name, and other details are consistent in Elizabeth S. Selden's applications for United States passports dated May 31, 1921 and March 3, 1925, National Archives and Records Administration, via Ancestry
  4. News: October 20, 1935 . Dancing Held Important Art . 12 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  5. News: Blalock . John V. . 1947-02-23 . International Anthology of Friendship . 29 . The Herald-Sun . 2023-04-07 . Newspapers.com.
  6. Web site: Ruyter . Nancy Lee Chalfa . Selden, Elizabeth S. (1888–at least the early 1960s), dancer and writer . 2023-04-07 . American National Biography . 2000 . en . 10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1802250.
  7. News: March 5, 1937 . 340 Students Finish Work at California . 19 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  8. Book: University of California . Register of the University of California . 1937 . D.W. Gelwicks, State printer . 64 . en.
  9. News: February 3, 1935 . Dancer to Give Club Program . S3 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  10. News: November 6, 1932 . Dancer on Program in Berkeley . 15 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  11. News: 1935-10-06 . Modern Dance Discussed; Book by Elizabeth Selden Inspirational . 29 . The San Francisco Examiner . 2023-04-07 . Newspapers.com.
  12. News: March 1, 1936 . Art and Music . 19 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  13. News: July 15, 1936 . Elizabeth Selden Will Give Lecture . 19 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. News: November 24, 1936 . Dancer to Lecture at Mills College . 26 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  15. News: May 23, 1933 . Dancers League to Give Benefit Ball . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  16. News: Martin . John . 1936-01-12 . Miss Selden's Study of the Modern Dance . BR-10 . The New York Times . 2023-04-07.
  17. News: June 6, 1939 . Woman Artist, Writer to Give Address . 17 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  18. News: May 4, 1955 . 'I' House Slates All-Day Gayway . 12 . Oakland Tribune . 2023-04-07 . California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  19. Selden . Elizabeth S. . January 1922 . Sonntagsberg . The World Tomorrow . 5 . 1 . 22–23.
  20. Selden, Elizabeth S. Elements of the free dance. AS Barnes, incorporated, 1930.
  21. News: 1930-07-05 . A Volume on the Art of Dancing Barefoot . 4 . The Kansas City Star . 2023-04-07 . Newspapers.com.
  22. Selden, Elizabeth S. The dancer's Quest: Essays on the Aesthetic of the contemporary dance. University of California Press, 1935.
  23. Selden, Elizabeth S., ed. The Book of Friendship: An International Anthology Compiled, with a Commentary. Houghton Mifflin, 1947.
  24. Web site: Selden (Elizabeth) Dance Collection . 2023-04-07 . Online Archive of California.
  25. Web site: Elizabeth S. Selden papers 1946-1949 . 2023-04-07 . researchworks.oclc.org . en.

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