Quick Facts
Biography
Marian Hannah Summer (1910 – 15 December 1981) was an American dance historian. She has been called one of "the [two] foremost names in American dance history."
In the 1940s, dance historian Lincoln Kirstein solicited Winter to write for Dance Index, a magazine he headed. In contrast to Kirstein's analytical or polemical approach to history, Winter was more of an archivist.
One of Summer's most influential works is "Juba and American Minstrelsy", published in 1947. The article sketches the life of Master Juba, a black American dancer active in the mid-19th century. Winter argues that Juba introduced African elements to American dance forms and, in the process, created a new, distinctly American style. The article thus attempts to "[re-appropriate] for black culture what is otherwise generally seen as racist theft."
Winter moved to France in her later years. There, she published The Theater of the Marvels in both English- and French-language editions. She died in Paris.
