Born in 1903, Edwin Denby was a dancer, poet, novelist, and the most distinguished American dance critic over the 30-year period during which his reviews appeared. Denby's technical knowledge and understanding of dance as a social and physical activity was enhanced by his belief that dance affirms the beauty of the human spirit and expresses what cannot be said through words. Denby evoked in the reader a sense of experiencing the performance of seeing and feeling as Denby did.
Denby wrote about virtually everything of significance in the 20th-century dance world using clear, elegant, and precise language.
Dance Writings includes Denby's essays and reviews from 1936 to 1965. The gathered works of individual criticism on dancers, choreographers, companies, and specific performances in New York also provide a historical overview of dance during this period.
Denby's other works include Dancers, Buildings and People in the Streets, The Complete Poems, and William De Kooning. He died in 1983.
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