Selma Jeanne Cohen
Selma Jeanne Cohen (September 18, 1920 – December 23, 2005) was a dance historian, editor, and teacher who devoted her career to advocating dance as an art worthy of the same scholarly respect traditionally awarded to painting, music, and literature. She edited the six-volume International Encyclopedia of Dance, completed in 1998.
Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was a dance critic for the New York Times and the Saturday Review. She also wrote and edited several books and taught at many colleges, including the University of Chicago. She died of Alzheimer’s disease in Greenwich Village, New York on December 23, 2005, aged 85.
Cohen was the niece of Benjamin V. Cohen, a key figure in the administrations of United States Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman.[1]
Encomium
- [o]pen to the world, she was able to attune American scholars to seeing beyond national borders[2][3]
Legacy
The Society of Dance History Scholars (SDHS) established the Selma Jeanne Cohen Award for exemplary student dance scholarship in her honor in 1995.
The Selma Jeanne Cohen Fund for International Scholarship at the Fulbright Association provides an honorarium, round-trip travel funds, and expenses for a dance scholar to give a major presentation on dance scholarship at the Association's annual conference.[4]
Works
Books
- Dance As a Theatre Art: Source Readings in Dance History from 1581 to the Present (co-editor)
- Doris Humphrey: An Artist First (editor)
- International Encyclopedia of Dance (editor)
- Next Week, Swan Lake: Reflections on Dance and Dances
Magazines
- Dance Perspectives (founding editor)
Articles
- "The Achievement of Martha Graham" (Chrysalis 11, mos. 5–6 (1958))
Notes
- ↑ See Selma Jeanne Cohen Papers b.3 f.20
- ↑ Selma Jeanne Cohen: In Memoriam
- ↑ Biodata
- ↑ http://www.fulbright.org/programs/cohen-lecture/
External links
- Selma Jeanne Cohen papers, 1942-1993 Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library.
- Selma Jeanne Cohen papers, 1964-2002 Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library.
- Selma Jeanne Cohen papers relating to Dance Perspectives, 1959-1976 Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library.
- Selma Jeanne Cohen papers relating to teaching and critical writing projects, 1965-1973 Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library.
- Selma Jeanne Cohen International Encyclopedia of Dance records, 1964-1995 Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library.
- New York Times obituary
- Selma Jeanne Cohen: In Memoriam
- Selma Jeanne Cohen: A Remembrance
- Dorris, George. "Selma Jeanne Cohen", Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopedia
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