The famous modern dancers like Ruth St. Denis, Ted Shawn, and Lester Horton rose to fame due to the fact that they wanted to do something “different” and “exotic” in the realm of dance. However, while in America, what they were doing seemed new and “never seen before,” they were borrowing traditional dances from different cultures and not giving the credit back to the dancers who sparked their inspiration. Instead, they started writing their own histories at the time and were praised for that (hagiography). Particularly Ruth St. Denis and other white women of the time “battled patriarchy to emerge as independent figures in their own right and claim rights of citizenship.” (Srinivasan 68). Ruth St. Denis’ fascination with Indian nautch dancing in Cony Island and the “Egyptian Deities” cigarette advertisement caught her eye and ever since then, she had the desire to be seen and appreciated for her dancing. However, while it was clear that Ruth St. Denis had a love for Indian nautch dancing, through her history, she left out the very same Indian dancers who she got inspiration from out of the archives of dance (Srinivasan 68). Srinivasan thoroughly outlines her research on Ruth St. Denis and how that led her to try to find all of the dancers hidden in those archives that never had the chance to be written into history. This contrasts with the history of La Meri, an American “ethnic dancer.” She was typically not included in modern dance history due to the fact that she considered herself as a student of ethnic dance, rather than a performer (Ruth St. Denis). However, she had the opportunity to travel and learn from instructors from different countries, further learning the culture and gaining an even stronger appreciation of ethnic dance due to that background.