Elizabeth Kendall (historian)

Elizabeth Kendall
Born (1947-04-07) April 7, 1947 (age 77)
St. Louis, Missouri, U.S.
Occupations
  • Academic
  • television writer
  • journalist
AwardsGuggenheim Fellow (1981)
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
DisciplineHistory
Sub-discipline
  • Dance history
  • film studies
  • early-20th century Russian culture
InstitutionsThe New School

Elizabeth Bemis Kendall (born April 7, 1947) is an American academic, television writer, and journalist. After working as a writer for the PBS show Great Performances and an editor for Ballet Review, she published several books – particularly Where She Danced (1979), The Runaway Bride: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930s (1992), and Balanchine and the Lost Muse (2013) – mostly focusing on dance history. She is Associate Professor of Liberal Studies and Literary Studies at The New School.[1]

Biography

Elizabeth Bemis Kendall was born on April 7, 1947 in St. Louis, Missouri.[2] Her parents were Betty (née Conant) and falconer Henry Cochran Kendall.[3] On April 3, 1969, she and her mother were injured when the station wagon she was driving crashed into an abutment on U.S. Route 61; her mother died from her injuries afterwards.[4]

She received her Bachelor of Arts (1969) at Radcliffe College and Master of Arts in Teaching in Language and Literature (1971) at the Harvard Graduate School of Education.[2][1] After working as a Rockefeller Foundation Fellow (1975–1976), she wrote two 1977 episodes of Great Performances: "Pilobolus Dance Theater" and "Trailblazers of Modern Dance".[2] In 1979, she published the dance history book Where She Danced, became a contributor for Ballet News and a contributing editor for Ballet Review.[2] She was an administrator for the NYIH's Culture of Cities program (1979–1981), and she was a New York Institute for the Humanities (NYIH) Fellow (1980–1982), and Ford Foundation fellow (1980–1982).[2]

In 1981, Kendall was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship "for a study of Hollywood lyric comedy in the 1930's",[2] and she later published The Runaway Bride: Hollywood Romantic Comedy of the 1930s in 1992.[1] In 2000, she published her memoir American Daughter.[3] In 2008, she published Autobiography of a Wardrobe, a memoir of herself from the perspective of her own attire.[5] In 2013, she published Balanchine and the Lost Muse, a book on the relationship between ballet choreographer George Balanchine and ballet dancer Lidia Ivanova.[6]

She was also a National Arts Journalism Program Senior Fellow (2002–2003), a New York Public Library Dorothy and Lewis B. Cullman Center for Scholars and Writers Fellow (2004–2005), a Likhachev Foundation Fellow (2009), and a Leon Levy Center for Biography Fellow (2011–2012).[1]

As an academic, she specializes in non-fiction, Russian culture in the early-20th century, and history of clothing and textiles.[1] At New School, she has taught classes on non-fiction, general literature, and cultural history.[1]

Bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Elizabeth Kendall". The New School for Social Research. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c d e f Reports of the President and the Treasurer. John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation. 1981. p. 57.
  3. ^ a b "American Daughter by Elizabeth Kendall". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  4. ^ "One Killed in Area Accidents". Sikeston Daily Standard. April 4, 1969. p. 15. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  5. ^ "Autobiography of a Wardrobe by Elizabeth Kendall". PenguinRandomhouse.com. Retrieved July 30, 2024.
  6. ^ La Rocco, Claudia (July 29, 2013). "Choreographer's Crucible: Friendship and Tragedy". New York Times. Retrieved July 31, 2024.
  7. ^ Hardy, Camille (1980). "Review of Where She Danced". Dance Research Journal. 12 (2): 38–41. doi:10.2307/1478514. ISSN 0149-7677. JSTOR 1478514.
  8. ^ "Mini-reviews". Sandusky Sunday Register. United Press International. July 1, 1979. pp. D-11. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  9. ^ Odom, Selma Landen (August 4, 1979). "Books Where She Danced by Elizabeth Kendall The Shapes of Change Images of American Dance". The Globe and Mail. p. 39. ProQuest 387074859. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  10. ^ Dunbar, Robert (1991). "Review of The Runaway Bride: Hollywood Romantic Comedy in the 1930s". Cinéaste. 18 (4): 56–57. ISSN 0009-7004. JSTOR 41687134.
  11. ^ Jacobs, Diane (November 4, 1990). "Sex, Silliness and Happy Endings". New York Times. p. BR9. ProQuest 108460295. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  12. ^ Kakutani, Michiko (November 20, 1990). "30's Romantic Comedy And Deep Implications". New York Times. p. C19. ProQuest 108424402. Retrieved August 1, 2024.
  13. ^ Harris, Andrea (2014). Kendall, Elizabeth (ed.). "Uncovering Balanchine, Recovering Ivanova". Dance Chronicle. 37 (1): 118–121. doi:10.1080/01472526.2014.876571. ISSN 0147-2526. JSTOR 24252631.
  14. ^ Jordan, Stephanie A. (2015). "Review of Balanchine and the Lost Muse: Revolution and the Making of a Choreographer". Music & Letters. 96 (1): 145–147. doi:10.1093/ml/gcu129. ISSN 0027-4224. JSTOR 24549547.
  15. ^ Morris, Geraldine (2014). "Review of Balanchine and the Lost Muse: Revolution and the Making of a Choreographer, Kendall, Elizabeth". The Slavonic and East European Review. 92 (3): 547–549. doi:10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.92.3.0547. ISSN 0037-6795. JSTOR 10.5699/slaveasteurorev2.92.3.0547.
  16. ^ Smith, Marian (2014). "Review of Balanchine and the Lost Muse: Revolution and the Making of a Choreographer". Slavic Review. 73 (4): 961–962. doi:10.5612/slavicreview.73.4.961. ISSN 0037-6779. JSTOR 10.5612/slavicreview.73.4.961.