Elizabeth Burchenal
| Elizabeth Burchenal | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 1876 Richmond, Indiana |
| Died | November 21, 1959 (aged 83) Brooklyn, New York |
| Residence | Brooklyn, New York |
| Occupation | Folk dance educator |
| Known for | American Folk Dance Society founder |
| Parent(s) | Charles Henry Burchenal Mary Elizabeth Day |
Elizabeth Burchenal (1876 – November 21, 1959) was an American folk dance educator. She was a teacher of dance in the New York state public school system as well as an inspector of athletics for the New York Department of Education. Burchenal influenced the cultural conduct of recreational life in the United States, Canada and Europe.
Burchenal was born between 1875 and 1876 in Richmond, Indiana. Flora was her given name and later she took on the name Elizabeth (her middle name). Burchenal pronounced her family name "Burchenélle" as was the tradition. "Burchenal" shows up as being anglicized to "Brockend" in the 1880 United States Census. Burchenal was the second oldest child in the family of four girls and one boy. Her childhood folk dance career came from a "musically gifted family circle passing many an hour dancing and singing songs of the old country." She was influenced early in her life towards folk dance by her musician mother who took her on travels to remote mountain cabins by horseback, where she picked up folk dance techniques of the remote mountain village people. Her father was especially interested in folklore.
Burchenal attended Earlham College and graduated in 1896 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. She then went to Boston University Sargent College, school of physical training. She graduated from Sargent College in 1898. Then after graduation she directed in the department of orthopedics the Medical Gymnasium, which later became Boston Children's Hospital Medical Center. She directed physical education programs from 1898 to 1902 in Boston as well as Chicago.
[[File:Elizabeth Burchenal 1896.jpg|thumb|from the Earlham College yearbook, class of 1896]]
Burchenal became interested in using dance in physical education and was influenced by the dance educator Melvin Gilbert. She carried his philosophy of dance education to Columbia University. She thought that Gilbert's dance techniques should be taught at the University in their physical training classes.
Burchenal became a teacher at the Teachers College at Columbia University from 1902 to 1905. Here she began her researching of folk dancing not only in the United States, but also the dancing techniques of Canadian and European folk dancers. Beginning in 1904 she traveled around the world gathering folk dance techniques of various countries.
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