Helen Tamiris (1903--1966) was one of the founders of modern dance in the United States. Trained in ballet and influenced by social issues of the 1920s and 1930s, she developed the concert dance form of modern dance. A white woman, Tamiris choreographed eight dances that were known as the Negro Spirituals between 1928 and 1941, which rank among her finest and most often restaged works. Later in her career, she entered musical theater and choreographed Broadway plays such as Annie Get Your Gun and Showboat. She received the Antoinette Perry Award in 1949 for best choreography for Touch and Go. After co-founding the Tamiris-Nagrin Dance Company with her husband, Daniel Nagrin, in 1960, Tamiris continued to teach and dance until her death in 1966.

Studied Rigid Ballet Techniques

Born Helen Becker on April 24, 1903, in New York City to parents who emigrated from Russia, Tamiris grew up on the Lower East Side of New...