Biographical/historical: Anna Halprin (born 1920), an American dancer and choreographer known for her innovative and experimental technique, is a leading figure of the postmodern dance movement. Born Anna Schuman in Winnetka, Illinois, in 1920, Halprin began studying dance at the age of five. At the University of Wisconsin, Halprin studied formally under instructor Margaret H'Doublier. Before graduating from college in 1942, Halprin married landscape architect, Lawrence Halprin, with whom she had two daughters: Daria and Rana.
In the early 1970s, Halprin began to engage in dance therapy as a means for healing and restoration. She authored several books on the subject, including: Dance as a Self-Healing Art (1977) and Movement Ritual: An Organization of Structural Movement to Encourage Creative Exploration (1979). In 1978, Halprin and her daughter, Daria, founded the Tamalpa Institute, a non-profit organization for dance and expressive arts therapy based in San Rafael, California.
Halprin also founded the San Francisco Dancers' Workshop (1955) and instructed an array of notable dancers such as Trisha Brown, Simone Forti, Meredith Monk, and Yvonne Rainer.