Exhibit spotlights Hawaii-born modern dancer, choreographer

Hawaii-born Jean Erdman, a quintessential 20th-century modern dancer and choreographer, is the subject of an exhibition, “Jean Erdman: A Career Retrospective,” opening at the Hawaii State Library today.

A grandchild of Hawaii businessman Benjamin Dillingham, Erdman, who turned 100 this year, attended Punahou School and Sarah Lawrence College in New York. She danced in Martha Graham’s company, married mythologist Joseph Campbell, started her own dance company, befriended John Cage and Merce Cunningham, won several New York theater awards and founded the dance department at New York University.

She now resides in Honolulu.

Included in the retrospective will be masks designed by Ralph Lee, testimonials from Erdman’s students and film footage to be shown for the first time. The exhibit will be on view in the lobby and first-floor reading room of the main branch of the library at 478 S. King St. through Nov. 8. For library hours and other information, call 586-3510.

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Star-Advertiser staff