Mura Dehn was a dancer, filmmaker, and dance historian known for her study and documentation of Black social jazz dancing in New York City. The collection holds photographs depicting these dancers, as well as some images of Dehn and James Berry.
Biographical/historical: Mura Dehn (1905-1987) was born in Russia, where she trained in ballet and modern dance. After witnessing Josephine Baker's jazz dancing while performing in Paris, Dehn moved to New York City, where she worked as a performer, teacher, and choreographer. Dehn formed a dance company with James Berry to promote Jazz dancing, and began filming dancers at the Savoy Ballroom in Harlem. This footage would ultimately become part of her documentary, The Spirit Moves, which chronicles Black social jazz dancing throughout the twentieth century.
Content: The collection contains photographs which mostly depict jazz dancing and musicians in a jazz club setting. All of these images are unlabeled and undated. There is also a small selection of headshots and performance photographs of Mura Dehn, as well as a contact sheet and print depicting James Berry.
