Rhythm & Roots: Dance in American Art explores the influences, evolution, and distinct traditions of dance in America. The exhibition portrays dances throughout America’s diverse community, from the sacred dances of indigenous North Americans, to Irish jigs, and Spanish flamencos. About 90 paintings, photographs, sculptures, and costumes relating to American dance from 1830 to 1960 will be on view.

The exhibition examines how dance moved to the public stage, showing new American dances, dance in the club, and artists’ historic fascination with and depiction of performers. Paintings in the exhibition feature iconic American dancers such as Isadora Duncan, Katherine Dunham, Fred Astaire, and Josephine Baker, as well as Spanish dancer Carmencita Dauset Moreno, and Russian ballerina Anna Pavlova.

Rhythm & Roots also demonstrates the interaction between visual artists, dancers, and choreographers. Works on view by artists such as Isamu Noguchi and Andy Warhol highlight collaborations with acclaimed dancers such as Martha Graham and Merce Cunningham.

Video, music, and interactive spaces help bring dance and performance to life in the exhibition galleries.

A richly illustrated exhibition catalog featuring essays by art historians and dance specialists is available in The Shop and online.

The traveling exhibition Dance: American Art, 1830–1960, is organized by the Detroit Institute of the Arts, and curated by Jane Dini, associate curator of American art at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Rhythm & Roots: Dance in American Art is locally curated by Angelica Daneo, curator of painting and sculpture at the DAM. The Art of American Dance: 1830-1960 will be on view at Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Arkansas (October 22, 2016-January 16, 2017).

http://denverartmuseum.org/exhibitions/rhythm-and-roots