Dance and the Works Project Administration
The stock market crash of 1929 resulted in the Great Depression, creating rampant unemployment and poverty. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal included the Works Progress Administration that led to the establishment of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) in 1935. Many of the radical dancers, who came to believe in reform rather than revolution, joined the government projects that sought economic change. One of the earliest productions of the FTP was The Eternal Prodigal (1936) with choreography by Gluck Sandor (1899–1978).
The stock market crash of 1929 resulted in the Great Depression, creating rampant unemployment and poverty. Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal included the Works Progress Administration that led to the establishment of the Federal Theatre Project (FTP) in 1935. Many of the radical dancers, who came to believe in reform rather than revolution, joined the government projects that sought economic change. One of the earliest productions of the FTP was <em>The Eternal Prodigal</em> (1936) with choreography by Gluck Sandor (1899–1978).