Martha Hill - Important Woman, Important Book

Martha Hill, 1900-1995, was a major figure in dance education and a major supporter of dance notation. Here are just two of her accomplishments, just to give you a sense of her impact: in 1932 she created the first bachelor of arts program in dance (at Bennington), and in 1951 she became the first director Juilliard's dance division. Pretty impressive, huh? Now think about this: she remained director of Juilliard's dance division for 34 years, until 1985.

In a word: wow.

Want to know a little bit more about Martha Hill?
Read her obituary from Dance Magazine.

Want to know more than just a little bit more about her? Read this new book:
The Contributions of Martha Hill to American Dance and Dance Education, 1900-1995 by Elizabeth McPherson

Here is the book's table of contents. It's amazing how the life of Martha Hill is essentially the history of dance education in America (NYU, Bennington, Connecticut College, Juilliard, scores of students who taught scores more students):

1. An Overview of the History of Dance in Higher Education in the United States
2. Hill’s Youth and Early Career: Growing Up in the Bible Belt (1900-30)
3. Establishing a Dance Program in the School of Education at New York University (1930-51)
4. Establishing a Place for Dance in a Liberal Arts Setting at Bennington College (1932-51)
5. Moving Dance into Mainstream American Thought at The Bennington School of the Dance and The Connecticut College School of the Dance/American Dance Festival (1934-52)
6. Creating and Nurturing a Conservatory Program in Dance at Juilliard (1951-95)
7. Through the Eyes of Hill’s Students
8. Hill’s Legacy

The list price is $109.95, but I'm told that it's available at a deep discount. Elizabeth, if you see this, could you possibly leave a comment telling people how to get the discount? I'll then repost the information in its own blog post...thanks!