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| {{Short description|Japanese American dancer (1912–1993)}} | |||
| {{Cleanup|August 2006}} | |||
| {{Infobox artist | |||
| '''Ailes Gilmour''' was among the young pioneers of the American ] movement of the 1930's. Her half-brother is ] the American sculptor. | |||
| | name = Ailes Gilmour | |||
| | image = | |||
| | caption = Helen Tamiris (center), Augusta Gassner, Dvo Seron, Ailes Gilmour, Marion Appell, and Lulu Morris in Tamiris's How Long Brethren, 1930-40's. | |||
| | birth_date = {{birth date|1912|01|27|mf=y}} | |||
| | birth_place = ], Japan | |||
| | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|04|16|1912|01|27|mf=y}} | |||
| | death_place = ], US | |||
| | nationality = American | |||
| | field = ] | |||
| | movement = ] | |||
| }} | |||
| '''Ailes Gilmour''' (January 27, 1912 – April 16, 1993) was a ] dancer who was one of the young pioneers of the American ] movement of the 1930s. She was one of the first members of ]'s dance company.<ref name="NYT DANCE">{{cite news|title=DANCE VIEW; Reflections on Martha Graham's Revolution| first=Anna| last =Kisselgoff| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1988/05/29/arts/dance-view-reflections-on-martha-graham-s-revolution.html?pagewanted=print&src=pm| newspaper =The New York Times| date=May 29, 1988| access-date =August 27, 2012| quote=Among those in the first and all-female troupe in the 1930s was Ailes Gilmour, who introduced her brother, the sculptor Isamu Noguchi, to Miss Graham}}</ref> Gilmour's older half-brother was sculptor ]. | |||
| Ailes was born in ], ] in ]. Her mother, ] was an American ex-patriate living in Japan and working as an English teacher and writer. Ailes older brother is ] the American sculptor. | |||
| ==Early life== | |||
| ], Ailes mother had met ] Isamu's father, while Yone he was living in New York. He trying to get his poetry published. At first she worked for him as his editor. Isamu was born after Yone had gone back to Japan although Leonie believed they were married. However, when Leonie got to ], she discovered that Yone already had children and another family. | |||
| Gilmour was born in 1912 in ], ]. Her father was unknown. Her mother, ], attended ] and studied at the ] in Paris, then moved to New York City in the early 1900s to try to establish herself as a writer. In 1907, Léonie traveled to Japan at the behest of ], the father of Ailes' older half-brother, Isamu, who had been born in 1904. However, by the time Léonie arrived in ], Yone was involved with a Japanese woman who had already borne the first of their nine children. Léonie's circumstances in Japan were always precarious. Nevertheless, she chose to stay there, teaching to support herself and Isamu, while continuing to edit Yone's writing. When Ailes was born, Léonie chose the name Ailes for her daughter from a poem ''Beauty's a Flower'' by ], the pseudonym of Agnes Shakespeare Higginson. It is a striking coincidence that the words in that poem seemed to predict Ailes' career as a dancer. O'Neill wrote, "Ailes was a girl that stepped on two bare feet..."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Léonie Gilmour|last=Marx|first=Edward|publisher=Botchan Books|year=2013|isbn=978-1939913012|pages=237}}</ref> Léonie, Isamu and Ailes lived together in Japan until 1918, when Léonie sent Isamu back to the United States to attend a progressive school in Indiana. | |||
| Young Ailes grew up in a Japanese style house that Léonie had constructed in ], a seaside town near ]. Ailes had close Japanese childhood friends, spoke Japanese as well as English and identified with Japan before she returned to the United States in 1920, at age 8. When Ailes and her mother returned to America, they lived first in ] and then moved to ]. Léonie was a great believer in progressive education and sent Ailes to the ] elementary school, founded in 1876 by ]. Léonie herself had attended the predecessor to the Ethical Culture Society elementary school when it was called the Workingman's School. For high school, Léonie chose the ] in ] for her daughter. It was a boarding school that was known for its progressive, coeducational program. The director and founder of the school was Dr. Fred Goldfrank, who was related to one of the founders of the Ethical Culture Society. Ailes greatly enjoyed her time there and formed several friendships that she maintained for the rest of her life. | |||
| Leonie's daughter was born in Japan in 1912. Leonie chose her daughter's name from the poem ''Beauty's a Flower'' by ] a pseudonym of ] It is a striking coincidence that the words in that poem seemed to predict Ailes destiny as a dancer. Moira wrote, "Ailes was girl that stepped on two bare feet..." Indeed dancing barefoot like ], "the mother of modern dance, became an important innovation. | |||
| ⚫ | In 1928, Gilmour was the literary editor of ''The Cherry Pit'', the Cherry Lawn's student magazine.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cherrylawnschool.org/yearbooks/1928CherryPit.pdf |title=The Cherry Pit 1928 Yearbook - Editorial Staff|publisher=Cherry Lawn School|access-date=October 15, 2008}}</ref> After she graduated from high school in 1929, she went on to the ] to study dance and performing arts as a scholarship student. There she met the young ] and joined her new professional dance troupe.<ref name="NYT DANCE" /> Gilmour told Marion Horosko that she introduced Graham to her half-brother, Noguchi, in 1929. Graham had a bust made of herself in bronze. | ||
| Ailes' father was not ]. Ailes said in a biographical statement she gave to ] for Horosko's book about ] that her father was a Japanese poet. <ref>Horosko, Marian. ''Martha Graham: The Evolution of Her Dance Theory and Training.'' University Press of Florida, 2002</ref> According to ] in her biography of Isamu, <ref> Duus, Masayo. ''The Life of Isamu Noguchi: A Journey without Borders. Princeton University Press, 2004</ref>, Ailes' son found | |||
| a page in an old notebook which might have referred to Ailes' father. However, the corner of the paper where a signature would be written had been torn off. It seems neither Ailes or Isamu knew the identity of Ailes' father. | |||
| ==Career== | |||
| Ailes grew up in a little Japanese style house that Leonie had built in ], a seaside town near ]. Isamu as a boy actually worked with the carpenter on its construction. Ailes was remembered by neighbors in ] as a happy child who liked playing in the garden, chasing butterflies and cicadas. | |||
| ⚫ | During the ], dancers like Gilmour and artists like Noguchi struggled to find work. In 1932, when ] opened, Gilmour performed at the debut with Graham's company. Their work, ''Choric Patterns'', lasted on stage for just one week. Gilmour ruefully observed to Marion Horosko that Radio City Music Hall could succeed only when it became a movie theater with Rockettes. | ||
| ⚫ | In the 1930s, Gilmour appeared on dance programs with dancer-choreographer ]. Matons was the director of the "experimental unit" of the New Dance League, which evolved from the ] between 1931 and 1935. ] was to later become General Hershy Bar, an anti-war street theater character and publisher. Among the group's later-to-become-famous members were male dancer-choreographers like ] and ]. In 1937, Ailes and Matons performed in a ] recital at the ]. In 1939, they were in ''Adelante'', a WPA-sponsored Broadway musical. Also in 1937, Matons did the choreography for the Lenin Peace pageant at ]. | ||
| In 1920 Leonie managed to return to America with Ailes. Isamu is still in high school in ]. He graduates and gets accepted into Columbia University's pre-med program in 1922. | |||
| In 1948, Gilmour married anthropologist ]. They had a son, Joseph.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/newspaper%2010/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier%201967%20Grayscale/Carmel%20NY%20Putnam%20Country%20Courier%201967%20Grayscale%20-%200482.pdf|title=Memorial Service for Dr. Spinden|date=October 26, 1967|work=Putnam County Courier, Carmel, N.Y.|access-date=May 30, 2018}}</ref> | |||
| Leonie and Ailes also go to live in ]. Leonie sends Ailes to the ] elementary school where she herself had been a student. It was founded in 1876 by ], a professor of Philosophy at ] and champion of many educational and social reforms of the ] movement. Leonie herself had studied at ] and the ] in Paris. For her daughter, Leonie chooses the Cherry Lawn School in ]. It was one of the first progressive, co-educational boarding schools. The director of the school was Dr. Christina Stael von Holstein, a descendant of the famous ] of the ]. Her husband, Dr. Boris Bogoslovsy had been an official in the ] and later served an observer at the ]. He taught science at Cherry Lawn. | |||
| On April 16, 1993, Gilmour died in ], ] at the age of eighty-one. | |||
| ⚫ | In 1928, |
||
| ==References== | |||
| On ], 1933 Ailes mother, ] dies in the charity ward of New York's ]. The cause of death was listed as pneunomia but years of poverty and hardship must have taken their toll. Isamu made a Japanese style unglazed ] statue to guard Leonie's grave. Isamu and Ailes put a small gravestone for their mother in her family burial plot in ] cemetery in ]. Isamu's renown and success as an artist was to come many decades later. | |||
| {{reflist}} | |||
| == Further reading == | |||
| ⚫ | During the |
||
| ⚫ | * Noguchi, Isamu. ''A Sculptor's World''. New York: Harper and Row, 1968. | ||
| {{DEFAULTSORT:Gilmour, Ailes}} | |||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ⚫ | |||
| ] | |||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| Ailes was married to ]. Ailes son is ]. | |||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ] | |||
| == Additional Reading == | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| Duus, Masayo. ''The Life of Isamu Noguchi: Journey without Borders''. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2004. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| Horosko, Marian. ''Martha Graham: The Evolution of Her Dance Theory and Training''. University Press of Florida, 2002. | |||
| ] | |||
| ] | |||
| ⚫ | Noguchi, Isamu. |
||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ⚫ | ] | ||
| ] | |||
Latest revision as of 11:48, 8 November 2024
Japanese American dancer (1912–1993)| Ailes Gilmour | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1912-01-27)January 27, 1912 Yokohama, Japan |
| Died | April 16, 1993(1993-04-16) (aged 81) Santa Fe, New Mexico, US |
| Nationality | American |
| Known for | Dance |
| Movement | Modern Dance |
Ailes Gilmour (January 27, 1912 – April 16, 1993) was a Japanese American dancer who was one of the young pioneers of the American Modern Dance movement of the 1930s. She was one of the first members of Martha Graham's dance company. Gilmour's older half-brother was sculptor Isamu Noguchi.
Early life
Gilmour was born in 1912 in Yokohama, Japan. Her father was unknown. Her mother, Léonie Gilmour, attended Bryn Mawr College and studied at the Sorbonne in Paris, then moved to New York City in the early 1900s to try to establish herself as a writer. In 1907, Léonie traveled to Japan at the behest of Yone Noguchi, the father of Ailes' older half-brother, Isamu, who had been born in 1904. However, by the time Léonie arrived in Tokyo, Yone was involved with a Japanese woman who had already borne the first of their nine children. Léonie's circumstances in Japan were always precarious. Nevertheless, she chose to stay there, teaching to support herself and Isamu, while continuing to edit Yone's writing. When Ailes was born, Léonie chose the name Ailes for her daughter from a poem Beauty's a Flower by Moira O'Neill, the pseudonym of Agnes Shakespeare Higginson. It is a striking coincidence that the words in that poem seemed to predict Ailes' career as a dancer. O'Neill wrote, "Ailes was a girl that stepped on two bare feet..." Léonie, Isamu and Ailes lived together in Japan until 1918, when Léonie sent Isamu back to the United States to attend a progressive school in Indiana.
Young Ailes grew up in a Japanese style house that Léonie had constructed in Chigasaki, a seaside town near Yokohama. Ailes had close Japanese childhood friends, spoke Japanese as well as English and identified with Japan before she returned to the United States in 1920, at age 8. When Ailes and her mother returned to America, they lived first in San Francisco and then moved to New York City. Léonie was a great believer in progressive education and sent Ailes to the Ethical Culture Society elementary school, founded in 1876 by Felix Adler. Léonie herself had attended the predecessor to the Ethical Culture Society elementary school when it was called the Workingman's School. For high school, Léonie chose the Cherry Lawn School in Connecticut for her daughter. It was a boarding school that was known for its progressive, coeducational program. The director and founder of the school was Dr. Fred Goldfrank, who was related to one of the founders of the Ethical Culture Society. Ailes greatly enjoyed her time there and formed several friendships that she maintained for the rest of her life.
In 1928, Gilmour was the literary editor of The Cherry Pit, the Cherry Lawn's student magazine. After she graduated from high school in 1929, she went on to the Neighborhood Playhouse to study dance and performing arts as a scholarship student. There she met the young Martha Graham and joined her new professional dance troupe. Gilmour told Marion Horosko that she introduced Graham to her half-brother, Noguchi, in 1929. Graham had a bust made of herself in bronze.
Career
During the Depression Era, dancers like Gilmour and artists like Noguchi struggled to find work. In 1932, when Radio City Music Hall opened, Gilmour performed at the debut with Graham's company. Their work, Choric Patterns, lasted on stage for just one week. Gilmour ruefully observed to Marion Horosko that Radio City Music Hall could succeed only when it became a movie theater with Rockettes.
In the 1930s, Gilmour appeared on dance programs with dancer-choreographer Bill Matons. Matons was the director of the "experimental unit" of the New Dance League, which evolved from the Workers Dance League between 1931 and 1935. Bill Matons was to later become General Hershy Bar, an anti-war street theater character and publisher. Among the group's later-to-become-famous members were male dancer-choreographers like José Limón and Charles Weidman. In 1937, Ailes and Matons performed in a Works Progress Administration (WPA) recital at the Brooklyn Museum. In 1939, they were in Adelante, a WPA-sponsored Broadway musical. Also in 1937, Matons did the choreography for the Lenin Peace pageant at Madison Square Garden.
In 1948, Gilmour married anthropologist Herbert J. Spinden. They had a son, Joseph.
On April 16, 1993, Gilmour died in Santa Fe, New Mexico at the age of eighty-one.
References
- ^ Kisselgoff, Anna (May 29, 1988). "DANCE VIEW; Reflections on Martha Graham's Revolution". The New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2012.
Among those in the first and all-female troupe in the 1930s was Ailes Gilmour, who introduced her brother, the sculptor Isamu Noguchi, to Miss Graham
- Marx, Edward (2013). Léonie Gilmour. Botchan Books. p. 237. ISBN 978-1939913012.
- "The Cherry Pit 1928 Yearbook - Editorial Staff" (PDF). Cherry Lawn School. Retrieved October 15, 2008.
- "Memorial Service for Dr. Spinden" (PDF). Putnam County Courier, Carmel, N.Y. October 26, 1967. Retrieved May 30, 2018.
Further reading
- Noguchi, Isamu. A Sculptor's World. New York: Harper and Row, 1968.