Margaret H'Doubler

Margaret Newell H'Doubler (April 26, 1889 in Beloit, Kansas – March 26, 1982 in Springfield, Missouri) created the first dance major at the University of Wisconsin. Her dance pedagogy was a blend of expressing emotions and scientific description. She used her knowledge about the body to help create movement to express what the dancers were feeling, and wrote five books about her pedagogy and about the importance of dance in education. Among H'Doubler's students was Anna Halprin when Halprin was a student at University of Wisconsin in 1938.

Margaret H'Doubler was born April 26, 1889 in Beloit, Kansas to Charles and Sarah H'Doubler. In 1903 the family moved to Madison, Wisconsin because Margaret’s older brother got accepted to the University of Wisconsin to study math and biology. She looked up to her brother, because she also had an interest in biology. She graduated from Madison High School in Madison, Wisconsin in 1906, where she participated in basketball and baseball She then also attended the University of Wisconsin to major in biology and minor in philosophy. In 1910, she graduated and was given a job as an assistant instructor teaching basketball, baseball and swimming. These courses were under the newly established Department of Physical Education for Women.

In May 1916, H'Doubler left to attend Columbia University Teachers College for graduate work in philosophy and aesthetics. After struggling to find a dance form she enjoyed, she met a music teacher, Alys Bentley. Bentley would have her students move in relation to music. She had her students lie on the floor, and this is where H'Doubler finally figured out what type of movement intrigued her. The two things she realized was that “students made their own movement” and “being on the floor you’re away from the pull of gravity”

H’Doubler began teaching dance in the summer of 1917. She described dance as an art and science which formed her foundation. Her theory of dance was viewed as acceptable because it was feminine and aesthetic. She taught exercises based on her idea of natural body movement, this was movement that did not require formal dance technique. She started with her students on the floor and then progressed to standing positions. She was interested in how the body would react to the “structural changes of position of the body” and “self generated creativity”.

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