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A Reminiscence All great innovators and pioneers have three characteristics in common: a fierce commitment and uncompromising integrity to their ideas; a profound and lasting impact on society and culture; and a grand and eloquent vision. Margaret H'Doubler stands among the pioneers in the world of dance. She was a maverick in the field, a woman of strong integrity, a master teacher, and a deep thinker. I was lucky enough to have been her student, disciple, and good friend throughout her life. Of all the teachers I have encountered, hers was the teaching which lasted, the one which first set me on my path and offered me a way to forge my own work. For this, I will always be grateful. In 1938, when I graduated from high school, only two schools in the United States offered a dance major. One was Bennington College in Vermont , and the other was the University of Wisconsin. I was primed to go to Bennington. I had studied with the most famous modern dance teachers of the time-Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Martha Graham, and Hanya Holm-who also taught at the American Dance Festival at Bennington College. Doris Humphrey had invited me to join the HumphreyWeidman company in New York City. I had promised my family I would graduate from college before I became a professional dancer, so I decided to postpone this opportunity until I had finished school. I anticipated working with these professional dancers at Bennington. However, I was not accepted at Bennington. This left me with little option but to attend the University of Wisconsin. What felt like a bitter disappointment at the time turned into the luckiest mishap of my life. It was at the University of Wisconsin that I met the two people who would most influence my dance career: my future husband, Lawrence Halprin, and my mentor, Margaret H'Doubler. xv A Reminiscence In the early 1940s, there were two separate and distinct paths for a dancer. One was to go to New York City and become a member of a professional dance company. The other was to work as a teacher. Bennington was the training ground for the professional life in New York City; Wisconsin was the training ground for the dancer-as-educator. Although these paths remained separate for many years in the dance world, H'Doubler showed me a way to do both. The expansiveness of her vision encouraged me to redefine dance professionalism to include teaching and performing. As I have been successful as a dancer and teacher, I have been able to pass this idea on to subsequent generations of students. I think this has changed the field, as well as the expectations of young dancers regarding the breadth and depth of their careers. As I write, I am overwhelmed with many memories of Marge and feel a deep sense of awe and affection for this woman who affected my life so deeply. I want to share with you the exact memories and thoughts to reveal just who she was to me. Here is my first memory of Marge. When I arrived at the Lathrop Hall studio for my first class at the University of Wisconsin, I waited nervously in line with forty other bright-eyed students. I assumed our teacher would begin the class with exercises, the way a dance class usually began. Instead, H'Doubler arrived all breathless and enthusiastic. She greeted us warmly and, instead of taking her place in front of regimented lines of students, she invited us to gather informally around her in front of a skeleton. I was shocked. By the end of the day, I was so intellectually stimulated and creatively engaged that I could not wait for the next class. After this, I understood on some intuitive level that I was not expected to imitate her dancing but rather to learn about the true nature of movement as applied to the human body. Her knowledge of biology, coupled with her understanding of human nature, led to a balanced and holistic teaching. This was all very new and exciting for me. She encouraged us to take the biological, factual knowledge she had and explore it on our own terms as we explored all the possibilities a movement could yield. This self-discovery evoked qualities, feelings, and images. Out ofthese personal responses we would then create our own dance experience. She helped us infuse our movement with our own creativity. This understanding of the relationship...

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