Martha Myers

5/23/1925 - 5/24/2022

New London - Martha Myers, 97, dance educator at Connecticut College for 25 years and at the American Dance Festival for over 30 years, died May 24, 2022, at her home in New York City.

Her death was confirmed by her son, Curt Myers, of Manhattan, N.Y..

Her career in dance spanned more than 50 years and encompassed the roles of dancer, choreographer, film producer, television personality, and writer.

Ms. Myers joined the faculty at Connecticut College in 1967, founding its dance department in 1971. She led the department until 1992, establishing both Bachelor of Arts and Master of Fine Arts degrees.

She was named dean of the school at the American Dance Festival in 1969, where she pioneered the study of dance medicine and somatics and mentored thousands of dance students before retiring in 2000.

Charles L. Reinhart, the director emeritus of the American Dance Festival stated, "As ADF school dean, Martha brought new dance ideas and techniques to the festival while respecting tradition. She accomplished this important beautiful balance with generous love and respect. And as a result, she deeply impacted the careers of many artists."

Martha Coleman was born May 23, 1925, in Napa, California.

After the death of her father when she was 3 years old, the family moved back to Richmond, Va., where her uncle, Lewis Powell Sr., became the family patriarch. She grew up with her cousin and former Supreme Court Justice, Lewis Powell Jr., who was always fascinated by her life as a dancer.

She received her undergraduate degree from Virginia Commonwealth University and an Master of Science from Smith College, where she remained as an assistant professor in the physical education department for over ten years.

In the early 1960s, television station WBNS in Columbus, Ohio, hired her to host a morning exercise and health program. The popularity of her segment caused the station to ask her to co-anchor the Noonday News. She was one of the first female news anchors in the country.

Subsequently, she was involved in a series of nine television programs titled "A Time To Dance," a precursor to "Dance in America," for which she served as writer, narrator, and co-producer with Jac Venza of WGBH/Boston.

She was awarded honorary degrees from Smith College and Manhattanville College and received lifetime achievement awards from The American Dance Guild and The Martha Hill Foundation as well as the Balasaraswati/Joy Anne Dewey Beinecke Endowed Chair for Distinguished Teaching from the American Dance Festival.

After retiring as dean of the American Dance Festival, she continued to teach at the American Dance Festival's winter intensives in New York City well into the 2000s.

In 2020, she published "Don't Sit Down: Reflections on Life and Work" with co-editors Ara Fitzgerald and Stuart Pimsler, who described her as "among a select group of visionaries who helped scatter the seeds of American dance."

Choreographer David Dorfman, one of her many students who went on to a career in dance, stated, "my 'dance mom' taught me and countless others to press ourselves for betterment every moment, to try 'it' again, to experience newness, to keep digging deeper, to live poetically, and above all to always love what you do and to always be curious. She will continue to inspire me daily."

She is survived by her son, Curt, his wife Leslie Myers, and three grandsons, Drew, Evan, and Adam. She was preceded in death by her husband, Dr. Gerald E. Myers, a scholarly expert on philosopher William James and the American Dance Festival's philosopher in residence and director of numerous educational programs.