| Suzanne Shelton
Buckley was born in Wichita Falls, Texas on April 27, 1946, the
daughter of Elsa Barnes Shelton and Glenn Elbert Shelton. She received
a Bachelor of Arts with a major in English from the University of
Texas at Austin in May 1968. From 1968 to 1970 she was employed
as a writer for The Houston Post, in Houston, Texas. In
September 1970, she entered the Graduate School in Austin and was
awarded the degree of Master of Arts in American Studies in 1973.
She was then employed as a dance critic for Texas Monthly
and Dance Magazine, where she worked until the mid-1980s.
Shelton received her doctorate in American Studies at the University
of Texas at Austin in1980. Suzanne Shelton wrote her dissertation
and manuscript on Ruth St. Denis (1878-1968), a seminal figure in
modern dance. Her dissertation was published by Doubleday in 1981
as Divine Dancer: A Biography of Ruth St. Denis. After
receiving her doctorate, she taught in the American Studies Department
at the University of Texas at Austin and until the mid-1980s.
Suzanne Shelton became interested in Ruth St. Denis when she saw
Ruth St. Denis as Isis on Egyptian Deity Cigarette packages. Ruth
St. Denis is considered to be the mother of American modern dance
and introduced Eastern dance forms to Americans. Ms. Shelton’s
book Divine Dancer covers the dancer’s life and includes
her marriage and long-time partnership with Ted Shawn, her affair
with a Chinese diplomat Sun Nung Au-Young, her world tours and choreography
of specific dances. Ted Shawn (1892-1971) was a divinity student
at the University of Denver in 1910 when he began dancing. He was
expelled the following year because dancing was discouraged at the
University, which was still a Methodist university. In 1920 St.
Denis and Shawn founded the Denishawn School. A number of notable
modern dancers, including Martha Graham, Doris Humphrey, and Charles
Weidman, studied at the school.
Suzanne Shelton, a long-time resident of Austin, Texas was married
to John Buckley, M.D. and had one daughter. After her husband died
in the mid-1980s, Suzanne and her daughter moved to India, where
she became director of an educational foundation. Suzanne Shelton
Buckley is still director of the foundation and continues to live
in India. |
