Katherine Litz

Katherine Litz (July 26, 1912, Denver, Colorado - December 19, 1978, New York City,[1]) was an American dancer, teacher, and choreographer.

[3] Although not part of a permanent company or associated with a particular school of dance, she was best known for developing and regularly performing a set of solo pieces: Daughter of Virtue (1949), Fire in the Snow (1949), Blood of the Lamb (1950), The Long Night (1950), The Glyph (1951), And No Birds Sang (1952), Super Duper Jet Girl (1953), Vaudeville: Madame Belinda Bender's Dancing School (1953), The Story of Love from Fear to Flight (1953), and Homage to Lillian Gish (1978).

[7] While at Black Mountain College in 1950-51, Litz collaborated with American composer Lou Harrison and several students and teachers to create "The Glyph," a multimedia work that included painted backdrop by Ben Shahn, music by Harrison with piano accompaniment by David Tudor, and poetry by Charles Olson, and danced by Litz.

"[5] As Litz described its origins, "The common idea of a Glyph expressed by the different art forms was simply a compound image contained in a single work.

[9] In 2015 and 2016, The Glyph was re-created by dancer Polly Motley and directed by Richard Colton in conjunction with the exhibition Leap Before You Look: Black Mountain College, 1933-1957'' at the ICA Boston, and the Hammer Museum in Los Angeles.