Elizabeth S. Selden

Elizabeth Schmidinger Selden (August 3, 1887 – September 1970)[1] was an Austrian-born American dancer, lecturer, and writer, author of The Dancer's Quest: Essays on the Aesthetic of Contemporary Dance (1935) and Elements of the Free Dance (1930). After World War II, she wrote and spoke on international friendship and peace.

This article is about the Austrian-born American dance scholar; for the American suffragist with a similar name, see Elizabeth Selden Rogers.
Elizabeth S. Selden
A white woman with dark bobbed hair, parted on the side, wearing a light-colored top with a round neckline
Elizabeth S. Selden, from her 1921 application for a United States passport
Born
Elizabeth Schmidinger

August 3, 1887
Stein, Carniola, Austrian Empire (now Kamnik, Slovenia)
DiedSeptember 1970 (aged 83)
Occupation(s)Choreographer, dance scholar
Notable workThe Dancer's Quest: Essays on the Aesthetic of Contemporary Dance (1935)

Early life and education

Elizabeth Schmidinger was born in Stein, Carniola in the Austrian Empire (now known as Kamnik in Slovenia), the daughter of Karl Schmidinger. She moved to the United States in the 1915. Artist Walter Pach signed her petition for naturalization as a United States citizen in 1920.[2] She changed her surname in the process of naturalization, and made a note to that effect in her application for a United States passport in 1921.[3]

She studied languages and modern dance in Europe and New York.[4][5] She earned a bachelor's degree in 1935, and a master's degree in German in 1937, both from the University of California, Berkeley.[6][7] Her master's thesis was titled "The German interest in Chinese culture and its bearing on the poetry of the late Romantic period, as expressed in Goethe's Chinesisch-deutsche Jahres und Tageszeiten and in Rückert's Schi-King".[8]

Career

Selden was a dancer,[9][10] writer,[4][11] and lecturer,[12][13][14] based in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut in the 1910s and 1920s, and in California in the 1930s and 1940s.[15] She was a member of the Concert Dancers League of New York.[10] She traveled to back Germany several times for research.[3] In addition to her books on dance,[16] she also wrote and spoke on European fascinations with East Asian cultures,[17] and was active in international activities at the University of California and in Oakland.[18] "For the first time in history," she wrote in 1947, "at least the physical obstacles to world friendship have been removed."[5]

Publications
  • "Sonntagsberg" (1922)[19]
  • Elements of the Free Dance (1930)[20][21]
  • The Dancer's Quest: Essays on the Aesthetic of Contemporary Dance (1935)[22]
  • China in German Poetry from 1773 to 1833 (1942)
  • The Book of Friendship: An International Anthology (1947, compiled and translated by Selden)[23]

Personal life and legacy

Selden died in 1970, at the age of 83. The University of California, Irvine, holds a small collection of Selden's papers.[24] Stanford University's Hoover Institution Library also holds a small collection of Selden's papers.[25]

References
  1. Birth and death dates from the U.S. Social Security Death Index, via Ancestry.
  2. Elizabeth Schmidinger, also known as Elizabeth Selden, Petition for Naturalization dated September 9, 1920, New York, U.S., State and Federal Naturalization Records, 1794-1943, via Ancestry
  3. Birth place, father's name, and other details are consistent in Elizabeth S. Selden's applications for United States passports dated May 31, 1921 and March 3, 1925, National Archives and Records Administration, via Ancestry
  4. "Dancing Held Important Art". Oakland Tribune. October 20, 1935. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  5. Blalock, John V. (1947-02-23). "International Anthology of Friendship". The Herald-Sun. p. 29. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. Ruyter, Nancy Lee Chalfa (2000). "Selden, Elizabeth S. (1888–at least the early 1960s), dancer and writer". American National Biography. doi:10.1093/anb/9780198606697.article.1802250. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  7. "340 Students Finish Work at California". Oakland Tribune. March 5, 1937. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  8. University of California (1937). Register of the University of California. D.W. Gelwicks, State printer. p. 64.
  9. "Dancer to Give Club Program". Oakland Tribune. February 3, 1935. pp. S3. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  10. "Dancer on Program in Berkeley". Oakland Tribune. November 6, 1932. p. 15. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  11. "Modern Dance Discussed; Book by Elizabeth Selden Inspirational". The San Francisco Examiner. 1935-10-06. p. 29. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Art and Music". Oakland Tribune. March 1, 1936. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  13. "Elizabeth Selden Will Give Lecture". Oakland Tribune. July 15, 1936. p. 19. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  14. "Dancer to Lecture at Mills College". Oakland Tribune. November 24, 1936. p. 26. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  15. "Dancers League to Give Benefit Ball". Oakland Tribune. May 23, 1933. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  16. Martin, John (1936-01-12). "Miss Selden's Study of the Modern Dance". The New York Times. pp. BR-10. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  17. "Woman Artist, Writer to Give Address". Oakland Tribune. June 6, 1939. p. 17. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  18. "'I' House Slates All-Day Gayway". Oakland Tribune. May 4, 1955. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via California Digital Newspaper Collection.
  19. Selden, Elizabeth S. (January 1922). "Sonntagsberg". The World Tomorrow. 5 (1): 22–23.
  20. Selden, Elizabeth S. Elements of the free dance. AS Barnes, incorporated, 1930.
  21. "A Volume on the Art of Dancing Barefoot". The Kansas City Star. 1930-07-05. p. 4. Retrieved 2023-04-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  22. Selden, Elizabeth S. The dancer's Quest: Essays on the Aesthetic of the contemporary dance. University of California Press, 1935.
  23. Selden, Elizabeth S., ed. The Book of Friendship: An International Anthology Compiled, with a Commentary. Houghton Mifflin, 1947.
  24. "Selden (Elizabeth) Dance Collection". Online Archive of California. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
  25. "Elizabeth S. Selden papers 1946-1949". researchworks.oclc.org. Retrieved 2023-04-07.
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