Alfred Brooks (dancer)
Alfred Brooks | |
|---|---|
| Born | Alfred Brooks Pew October 19, 1916 Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. |
| Died | December 15, 2005 (aged 89) |
| Other names | Al Brooks |
| Education | Juilliard School (BA, MA) |
| Spouse | Maxine Munt |
Alfred Brooks, also known as Alfred Brooks Pew or Al Brooks (October 19, 1916 – December 15, 2005) was an American early influencer of counterculture, founder of a modern dance company called Munt-Brooks, and later founder of the experimental theatre group, The Changing Scene.
Early life and education
[edit]Alfred Brooks Pew was born in Kansas City on October 19, 1916, the youngest of five children born to John Brooks Pew and Maysie Virginia Pew.[1] Brooks attended the Juilliard School in New York with B.A and M.A. degrees in musical composition. As a student at Juilliard he was first exposed to modern dance, and he studied dance with Hanya Holm.[1]
Career
[edit]In 1952, Brooks opened Munt-Brooks dance studio in New York City with his wife Maxine Munt.[1]
In 1968, Brooks and Munt opened the non-profit, theatre/dance school called The Changing Scene in Denver, Colorado, after closing the Munt-Brooks dance studio in New York a few years prior. Everything was volunteer based and was devoted to presenting not just dance and theatre but new work in all media.[1] The Changing Scene was the first to have featured profanity, nudity and sexual situations on a Denver stage and in 1968 they were raided by the Denver vice squad because, Brooks said, "officers misunderstood what an offering called Organum must have been about".[2]
Brooks was a co-founder of the Colorado Theatre Guild.[3]
After Maxine Munt's death in January 2000, The Changing Scene closed.[1] The Changing Scene influenced a new generation of bohemian theatre including the Changing Scene Northwest, created by a former board member after they moved to Washington.[3]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e "Oral History Interview with Alfred Brooks, Carson-Brierly Dance Library 'Living Legends of Dance' Oral Histories". Digital DU, a service of University of Denver Libraries. Denver, Colorado: University of Denver. 2004-02-25. Archived from the original on 2014-05-29. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
- ^ Moore, John (December 20, 2005). "Theater's Al Brooks dies, The Changing Scene Experimental Theatre's founder brought artistic freedom to Denver stages". The Denver Post. The Denver Post. Retrieved May 29, 2014.
- ^ a b Moore, John (January 1, 2006). "Brooks' spirit lives on in Washington state". The Berkshire Eagle. The Denver Post. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved May 29, 2014.