Ted Shawn was born in Kansas City, Missouri on October 21, 1891. Originally intending to become a minister of religion, he attended the University of Denver. While attending the University, he caught diphtheria at the age of 19 causing him temporary paralysis from the waist down. It was during his physical therapy for the disease that Shawn was first introduced to dance by way of studying with Hazel Wallack in 1910, a former dancer with the Metropolitan Opera. In 1912, Shawn relocated to Los Angeles where he became part of an exhibition ballroom dance troupe with Norma Gould as his partner.