Barbara Mettler Papers, 1931-2002

Barbara Mettler (1907-2002), dancer, dance educator, film and video producer was born on March 12, 1907 in Chicago, Illinois. She was raised in a family that practiced arts of all kinds within the home. In her youth, Mettler experimented freely with dance, as she was uncomfortable with most formal dance classes. However, when she took a course with dance teacher Irma Duncan, at the University of Wisconsin, she became inspired by Duncan’s approach to dance perfomance, and began to flourish as a dancer and creator in her own right.

Throughout her career Mettler traveled extensively learning varying styles of dance that all contributed to her approach. Known for improvisation in her work, one of her greatest innovations is the development of principles of group dance improvisation. She toured Germany and eventually returned to attend the Mary Wigman School in Berlin in 1933. In addition to the Wigman School, the artistic freedom of the German Wimar Republic had also influenced her outlook on dance. After returning to the United States, Mettler opened a dance studio in New York City, which was a prominent part of the modern dance community during the Great Depression. In 1940, she left the city to be closer to nature. She moved to New Hampshire, where she offered summer dance courses for 12 years. In 1943, Mettler founded the Department of Expressive Movement at Keuka College in Ithaca, New York. During this time she also directed the Modern Dance Department of the Boston YWCA.

In 1963, Mettler’s Tucson Creative Dance Center opened. Through her studio Mettler offered on-going dance classes and an intensive summer program each year. She also published nine books, produced films and videotapes and directed the Barbara Mettler Dance Company. Her book Materials of Dance as a Creative Art Activity is a classic in the field of dance education. Her summer schools were very large, which led her to learn more about group dance. By the late 70’s and early 80’s, her dance company toured and performed large group improvisations. The first annual Creative Dance Congress took place on June 16-22 in 1996 at Hampshire College. The Congress involved classes, performances, dance groups, socializing and networking.

Throughout her life, Mettler continued to study and innovate in her field of dance. She continued to search for the roots of movement expression. Her core principles were beauty, freedom and democracy. Dance was conceived as a fundamental human activity, of which all people are capable, as opposed to an elite, choreographed, performance art. Mettler spent 6 decades sharing her approach to creative dance improvisation to diverse lay people of all ages and abilities. Mettler passed away at the age Her students later formed the International Association for Creative Dance to carry the principles of her work forward. Mettler passed away in 2002 at the age of 95.