• DOI:10.1017/S0149767712000307
• Corpus ID: 145795717

Inevitable Designs: Embodied Ideology in Anna Sokolow's Proletarian Dances

@article{Kosstrin2013InevitableDE,
  title={Inevitable Designs: Embodied Ideology in Anna Sokolow's Proletarian Dances},
  author={Hannah Joy Kosstrin},
  journal={Dance Research Journal},
  year={2013},
  volume={45},
  pages={5 - 23}
}

• H. Kosstrin
• Published 11 February 2013
• Art, History
• Dance Research Journal

Anna Sokolow (1910–2000), an American Jewish choreographer known for her social statements, led the workers dance movement and performed as a soloist with Martha Graham. She imbued her dances Strange American Funeral (1935) and Case History No.— (1937) with proletarian ideology that spoke to 1930s working- and middle-class audiences aligned with values of revolutionary and modern dance. These choreographies spoke to a political atmosphere focused on social justice while they appealed to a broad dance-going public. Sokolow's Graham training engendered a modernist aesthetic in her choreography that led critics to consider her work universal instead of marked as coming from a working-class left-wing Jewish dancer. This article argues that while narratives about Sokolow's work downplay her Communist affiliations, these ideals played a critical role in her choreography and in her navigation of international Communist circles. As Sokolow's choreography reinforced her politics, so too did her affiliations support her dance work.