In a photograph believed to date to the early to mid 1920’s,  American modern dance pioneer and choreographer Ted Shawn (1891-1972) is shown dancing with a performer believed to be a member of his Denishawn School of Dancing and Related Arts– a school notable for becoming “the first dance academy in the United States to produce a professional dance company.” (1.) This photograph of Shawn is from an identified variant print of the artist performing solo that came from his estate, with details below.

It would be helpful to identify the woman dancing with Shawn. A web search brings up a variant print of this dancer posted in 2014 from the same Sheldon estate stills, identifying her as American silent film and stage actress Theda Bara. (1885-1955) Bara herself, sent to the Denishawn school in Los Angeles by American film director D. W. Griffith, was quoted as saying: “There is only one place in the United States where one can get a perfectly trained dancer and that is at Denishawn,”. The star of the silent film Cleopatra (1917) “might have come to that understanding by working alongside Denishawn dancers on the making of the film, one of many cast with Denishawn dancers.” (2) 

It seems likely however this is false, although there may be a passing facial resemblance to Bara in the Sheldon photograph. Other dancers for this role may include Irene Castle and Denishawn trained dancer Lillian Powell (1896-1992). The DantéBéa website in 2015 posted one other variant print of this couple dated 1924, but with no names.  Should you have other insight or observations please contact this website.

Charles Gates Sheldon: 1882-1961

American illustrator and amateur photographer.

Born in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1882 (3.) and a 1901 graduate of Springfield (MA) High School, where his already accomplished illustrations were featured full-page in The Pnyx class yearbook, Charles Sheldon would go on to become an important American illustrator who embraced photography in aiding his artistic work.

Sheldon is perhaps best known today as the creator of the “Breck Girl”, being hired by Breck shampoo in 1936: …“to draw women for their advertisements. Sheldon’s early portraits for Breck were done in pastels, with a soft focus and halos of light and color surrounding them. He created romantic images of feminine beauty and purity.” (4.)

The following biography and background of the artist is courtesy of the now closed Grapefruit Moon Gallery in Minneapolis, MN, which acquired at an unknown date part of the Charles Sheldon estate, including examples of his original artwork and: “a large suitcase of 5″ by 7″ stills all taken by Charles Sheldon”:

Charles Sheldon was a prolific and gifted early 20th century illustrator who specialized in glamorous portraiture that graced the covers of early movie magazines and advertising in the art nouveau and art deco styles. After studying at the Art Students League, he went to Paris to study under the legendary Alphonse Mucha. Upon his return to America, Sheldon set up a studio at Carnegie Hall in New York City.

In 1918 Sheldon received his first pin-up commission, a series of ads for La Vogue lingerie. He soon began working on advertising campaigns for Fox Footery as well as creating covers for Collier’s Magazine, The Saturday Evening Post and Photoplay.

By 1921 he was contributing high fashion portraits to Woman’s Home Companion and Theater magazine. Famous women all over the world arranged to sit for portraits in his studio in Carnegie Hall in New York.

The pastels he created for Photoplay from 1925 to 1930 included glamorous depictions of Hollywood film stars like Clara Bow, Mae West, Jean Harlow, Greta Garbo, Gilda Gray, Mary Pickford, and numerous other Hollywood enchantresses. Unlike many movie magazine illustrators, who primarily worked off of publicity photos, many of these stars sat for Sheldon personally. Along with his work for Photoplay, the artist worked for Screenland, Movie Classic and Radio Digest magazines.

More on Sheldon’s photographic archive:

Sheldon maintained a studio at Carnegie Hall in New York City during the 1920s-30s, and photographed the glamorous Hollywood film stars of the era for his cover portrait work. Stars who sat for Sheldon include: Jean Harlow, Clara Bow, Marion Davies, Gloria Swanson, Pola Negri, Olive Borden, Mary Pickford, and literally dozens of others. What makes this collection so interesting is these stills were never meant for public consumption, they were taken to be used for his pastel portraiture work. Many are unscripted – Sheldon was an amateur photographer essentially and it is unique to see such glamorous stars posed often times so informally. Part of Sheldon’s talent was a knack for convincing his artist’s models and leading ladies to pose for him partially undressed or fully nude–emulating the spirit of NYC’s Ziegfeld Follies and other burlesque revues which had taken Manhattan by storm during the Roaring 20s.

1. Denishawn School overview, from Wikipedia, accessed January, 2025. The attribution of the other dancer being from the Denishawn School determined by this same performer in a singular pose shown with same backdrop and wearing the same loose-fitting shorts. (WorthPoint Auctions result-ca. 2000’s: “Item Modern Dance Pioneering Denishawn Performer Charles Sheldon Photograph 1920s NR (image 1/1)”
2. Paul A. Scolieri, footnotes 57-8, Ted Shawn: His Life, Writings, and Dances, Oxford University Press, 2020, pp. 114-5
3. Charles Gates Sheldon: gravestone: Find a Grave memorial accessed January, 2025.
4. Breck Shampoo: history: Wikipedia, accessed January, 2025