The Westminster Arcade
The stately Westminster Arcade was built in 1828, and this landmark building has been a part of Providence ever since. Now known as the Arcade Providence, it is the oldest surviving shopping mall in the United States, and it was recognized from the beginning as an innovative and beautiful structure. It has survived near-demolition, fires, hurricanes, consumer trends, city planners and commercial developers. Within its walls are fascinating stories of the people who made their livelihood between its double façades. Through archival records, interviews and personal accounts, author Janet Mansfield Soares reveals the challenges faced by its tenants from its beginnings as a competitor to Cheapside to its many transformations that mirror Providence’s own volatile history.
Martha Hill and the Making of American Dance
Martha Hill (1900 – 1995) was one of the most influential figures of twentieth-century American dance. Her vision and leadership helped to establish dance as a serious area of study at the university level and solidify its position as a legitimate art form. Setting Hill's story in the context of American postwar culture and women's changing status, this riveting biography shows us how Hill led her colleagues in the development of American contemporary dance from the Kellogg School of Physical Education to Bennington College and the American Dance Festival to the Juilliard School at Lincoln Center. She created pivotal opportunities for Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman, Hanya Holm, José Limón, Merce Cunningham, and many others. The book provides an intimate look at the struggles and achievements of a woman dedicated to taking dance out of the college gymnasium and into the theatre, drawing on primary sources that were previously unavailable.
Louis Horst: Musician in a Dancer’s World
From his musical beginnings as a piano player in gambling houses and society cafés, Louis Horst (1884-1964) became one of the chief architects of modern dance in the twentieth century. How a musician untrained in dance came to make such a mark is told here for the first time in rich detail. At the center of this story is Horst's relationship with Martha Graham, who was his intimate for decades. "I did everything for Martha," Horst said late in life. Indeed, as her lover, ally, and lifelong confidante, he worked with such conviction to make her the undisputed dance leader in the concert world that Graham herself would later remark: "Without him, I could not have achieved anything I have done." Drawing on the conversation and writings of Horst and his colleagues, Janet Mansfield Soares reveals the inner workings of this passionate commitment and places it firmly in the context of dance history.
The World of Theater Innovator Martha Clarke and her Garden of Earthly Delights: A Biography
Soares’ present writing project nearing completion, titled The World of Theater Innovator Martha Clarke and her Garden of Earthly Delights: A Biography, draws upon Clarke’s rich life’s work as a dancer, choreographer, and director. As a co-founder of Pilobolus Dance Theater and Crowsnest, Clarke’s story encompasses a broad spectrum in the world of dance, theater, and opera, presented by some of America’s finest companies. Her innovative 1984 evening-length work Garden of Earthly Delights was followed by numbers of equally original productions such as Vienna: Lusthaus, Miracolo d’Amore, and Belle Époque. Clarke’s subjects have been drawn from her personal life experiences and are a biographer’s delight: her work is exemplary for its meaningfulness and artistic integrity. “As a historian in the arts, I believe that Clarke’s work offers a multifaceted perspective of the decades that follow my two previous biographies. Martha Clarke was one of my first and among my most talented students at Juilliard. This retracing of her career, in ways, parallels mine, and it has been a great pleasure to present my “bird’s eye view,” bringing to light her amazing work over the years.”