David Borden Tribute to Ruth St. Denis & Ted

The Ted Shawn and his Male Dancers. This is a live performance by Mother Mallard in Ithaca, NY Sept. 2007. “The Dawns“ is an anagram of “Ted Shawn.“ Video by Noni Korf Vidal and Franck Vidal. Shown are David Borden, kbd. and Conrad Alexander, MalletKat. Out of camera view are keyboardists Blaise Bryski and David Yearsley. Everyone is playing sounds stored on Apple Laptops and triggered by USB connections. Ruth St. Denis and Ted Shawn collectively formed Denishawn ( circa 1917 - 1931 ), a dance company that included Martha Graham, Louise Brooks, Doris Humphrey, Charles Weidman and other influential figures in modern dance history. I had the good fortune to perform with Miss Ruth in the mid -1960s (she was 85, I was 26). I’ve always wanted to do a piece in her memory. Now that we have Noni Korf Vidal and her husband Franck contributing live digital video to our concerts, the opportunity presented itself. The video images and sequence is different with each performance.