Stodelle, Ernestine 1912-2008 (Ernestine Henoch)

OBITUARY NOTICE—

See index for CA sketch: Original name, Ernestine Henoch; born May 6, 1912, in Oakland, CA; died January 5, 2008, in Santa Barbara, CA. Dancer, teacher, and author. Stodelle joined the legendary dance company of Doris Humphrey and Charles Weidman in its infancy and performed with the company in the 1930s, before embarking on a solo career in 1935. She later operated her own dance studios in New England, reportedly performing with grace even into her eighties. In fact, in the 1990s she was commissioned by the Doris Humphrey Society to assist in the production of videotapes demonstrating Humphrey's distinctive technique. Stodelle was one of few dancers who could remember early modern dances from the days before choreography was documented by written notation, and she was able to resurrect and preserve many of the early works she had performed with dancers like Humphrey and José Limón. Stodelle also lectured at various universities throughout the United States. Though she was not a trained writer, she served as a dance critic for the New Haven Register in her home state of Connecticut. When she published Deep Song: The Dance Story of Martha Graham (1984), critics acknowledged that Stodelle's imperfections as a writer did little to diminish her respectful tribute to Graham and to the dancer's pioneering role in the development of modern dance as a stand-alone genre of a demanding art form. Stodelle received a lifetime achievement award from the Connecticut Dance Alliance in 2000. Her other books include The First Frontier: The Story of Louis Horst and the American Dance (1964), The Dance Technique of Doris Humphrey and Its Creative Potential (1978), and The Collected Works of Doris Humphrey (1986).

OBITUARIES AND OTHER SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Chicago Tribune, January 13, 2008, sec. 4, p. 6.

New York Times, January 9, 2008, p. A18.