His father, American muralist William de Leftwich Dodge, a first place laureate of the Ecole des Beaux Arts, would visit to paint and exhibit at the Salon, often residing in Giverny.

In 1916, Dodge’s Ritz-Carlton ballroom social dance partner introduced him to ballet—Les Ballets Russes starring Vaslav Nijinsky.

Under Acknowledgements, Lincoln Kirstein writes: The first American dancer I knew well was Roger Pryor Dodge[…he] taught me more about alternative forms of movement than I would ever gain from book or picture[…his] close observation of Fokine’s early ballets and Nijinsky’s performance and choreography kindled my own attempts to study theatrical movement.

In 1930, Dodge formed a male trio with Jack Nile, and Arthur Mahoney who he had met during their engagements at the Metropolitan Opera House.

The same year, Dodge met Mura Dehn, a recent Russian émigré, when they each presented their jazz dance numbers in the Billy Rose Show “Sweet and Low.” As Dehn states, their pieces were “A daring jump into the Modern-Grotesque for the producer: a first such experiment in a commercial musical.”[8][9] They formed a professional dance relationship and appeared in each other’s choreography.

[38] (see also External links) Roger Pryor Dodge Archive: films of Léo Staats, Nikolai Legat, Léonide Massine, Maria-Theresa Kruger (Duncan), Elise Dufour, Arthur Mahoney, Jack Nile, Alfred Leagins, Anita Avila, Susan Remos, Joe Frisco, Bill Matons and others A Day in the Life of a Ballerina, about Lisa Parnova by Dodge, 1937[39] Bunk Johnson, Mrs. Johnson, and William Russell in Washington Square Park, New York, 1946 (silent film) In a Jazz Way: Portrait of Mura Dehn, by Louise Ghertler and Pamela Katz, 1987, includes Dodge's color film with Dehn dancing to Ellington's "The Mooche" (1937) Private studio, 52 East 8th Street, New York Enthusiastic reception of "Rhapsody in Blue" in 1924 prompted Dodge to attend its second New York performance at Carnegie Hall.

He maintained that “improvisation is absolutely imperative to the development of an art form such as music and dancing,” and referring to contemporary evidence from 1639 for support, he quoted André Maugars’ experience in Rome: André Maugars: But above all the great Frescobaldi exhibited thousands of inventions on his harpsichord[…]for although his published compositions are witnesses to his genius, yet to judge of his profound learning, you must hear him improvise.

[40]To illustrate the potential for the future of jazz, Dodge asserted that “jazz has reached the highest development of any folk music since the early Christian hymns and dances grew into the most developed contrapuntal music known to history.” Considering current taste, he added, “When I hear an early record of Bessie Smith and then listen to a Cab Calloway and see how much more the Negro now enjoys the latter, I realize that the blues have been superseded and white decadence has once more ironed out and sweetened a vital art.”[41] In response to the vital swing Dodge felt missing in interpretations of Baroque music during its early-to-mid 20th century revival, and in an effort to identify a reliable common style element applicable to various period genres, in 1955 he published “The Importance of Dance Style in the Presentation of Early Western Instrumental Music.” (view article at External links) 1929 Negro Jazz.

The period demonstrates what happens when an indigenous music is transplanted into artistically sterile ground and is commercially trimmed to popular taste.

London:The Dancing Times (May) "He brought something new to the company [Diaghileff], a something I would call fine emotional expression through movement—not to be confused with pantomime.

London:Jazz Forum II (September) (and Berkeley:Circle)"It is the dancers who can do difficult steps with the ease with which a child can skip, who not only receive but give the greatest pleasure."

Great Barrington:High Fidelity (November) 1955 The Importance of Dance Style in the Presentation of Early Western Instrumental Music.

Folk expression seems to be the result of a built-in mechanism, like a bird’s nest-building instinct, which provides a powerful and unselfconscious driving force for the creation of strong and healthy art forms.” 1963 Letters Pro and Con.

The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism (Winter, 1963) In response to articles by George Beiswanger and Selma Jeanne Cohen: "I do say that the creativeness in the dance comes from the dancer and not the choreographer...[and] no group presentation, even with all the power it derives from a multitude of bodies in motion, can project the aesthetic impact of a great solo dancer."

To promote her art, he produced the 12 inch LP: The Famous Georgia Peach: Gospel in the Great Tradition, Classic Editions, 16 tracks; Guitar/banjo: Danny Barker, piano: James Francis and John Ephraim.

"[44] In 1960, Dodge’s son transcribed his father's favorite trumpet, clarinet and trombone solos for an ensemble that included clarinetist Joe Muranyi and trombonist Roswell Rudd.

After rehearsals recorded on his Wollensak, Dodge would return disappointed, for the musicians tended to improvise in a contemporary rather than period style.

Fundamental aspects of playing style were a concern Dodge also applied to early classical music performance.

[4] At the age of 75, thirty years after his last performance, Dodge intended to film himself in five Baroque solo court dances.

His costume was based on a print of Faune in Le Triomphe de Bacchus, together with a home-made white papier mâché mask.

Three dances were to be accompanied by excerpts from Gluck's Orfeo ed Euridice, Bach's Wedding Cantata and a Handel Organ Sonata.

Dehn wrote that these pieces were a summation of his knowledge of and reflections on dance, performed with the style of an average middle-aged gentleman with artistry and taste.

[45]Appreciation by Stanley Crouch: Dodge’s writing presented the richest ideas in early jazz criticism because he heard the art within a serious context…[46]