Bought in 1925 by Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst, the Devon estate
of Dartington Hall earned itself a place in the annals of utopian
schemes through the Elmhirsts' conviction that arts, education and
work could be integrated into an abundant life for the participation
of all. A strand that runs throughout Dartington's history is
the consistent belief in dance as an art form worthy of its place
alongside the other arts so that this rural paradise became a point
of intersection for a complex interweaving of dancers and dance
styles, American, European and South Asian.
For the first time, Larraine Nicholas traces Dartington's dance
history in depth, revealing its fascinating array of dancing
characters and setting it within British dance history during a major
part of the twentieth century. It will become an essential text, not
only for dance scholars and students but also for a wider readership
intrigued by the complex phenomenon of Dartington itself.
Larraine Nicholas lectures in Dance Studies at Roehampton University.