Type of Document	Thesis
Author	Bishop, Jennifer L.
URN	etd-09172003-163141
Title	Working Women And Dance In Progressive Era New York City, 1890-1920
Degree	Master of Arts
Department	Dance, Department of
Advisory Committee	Advisor Name Title Tricia Young Committee Chair John O. Perpener, III. Committee Member Neil Jumonville Committee Member
Keywords	Social Dancing Working Women
Date of Defense	2003-08-02
Availability	unrestricted
Abstract This study provides a historical examination of working women’s relationship with social and theatrical dance in New York City during the Progressive Era. These years, between 1890 and 1920, were seminal in bringing America into the modern age, as well as providing a unique framework for women’s activism against restrictive sociopolitical roles. The purpose of this thesis is to illuminate the relationship between New York City working class women, dance, and intellectual ideas in an attempt to broaden the scope of both dance studies and history. By utilizing historiography, women’s studies, cultural studies, and movement analysis, this project addresses the shift of women (from Victorian to Modern) through the lens of dance. Social dancing, especially in dance halls, was an outlet for working class experimentation with new attitudes of social and financial independence, as well as in defining a more liberal attitude of sexuality. Likewise, the chorus girls of Ziegfeld’s Follies used a theatrical medium in which to explore new identities of independence and sexuality. These high-grade chorines epitomized the working girl dream--they earned their own money while gallivanting through elite social circles. Throughout these two spheres--social or theatrical--the social and sexual transformation of women was underscored through ideas of conspicuous consumption and ethics of leisure.
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