Elise Reiman
{{short description|American ballet dancer and educator}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Elise Reiman
| image = EliseReiman1931.png
| alt = A young white woman with bobbed dark hair cut in bangs, photographed in profile
| caption = Elise Reiman, from a 1931 newspaper
| birth_name = Olga Elise Reiman
| birth_date = {{birth date|1911|10|17}}
| birth_place = Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.
| death_date = {{death date and age|1993|08|26|1911|10|17}}
| death_place = Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
| other_names = Elise Reiman Hotchkiss
| occupation = {{flatlist|
- ballet dancer
- dance educator}}
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) = {{marriage|Charles Varner Hotchkiss|1951|1963|reason=died}}
| relatives =
}}
Olga Elise Reiman (October 17, 1911Many sources give 1912, 1913, or 1914 as Reiman's birth year. Her birth certificate is dated October 17, 1911, in the Indiana Archives and Records Administration; Indianapolis, Indiana; Birth; Year: 1911; Roll: 016; via Ancestry – August 26, 1993) was an American ballet dancer and dance educator. After starting her career working with choreographer Adolph Bolm, she danced at the American Ballet and Ballet Society, both forerunners of the New York City Ballet, and originated several roles for choreographer George Balanchine. Reiman taught at Balanchine's School of American Ballet between 1945 and 1953 and from 1964 until her death.
Early life and education
Reiman was born in Terre Haute, Indiana,{{Cite web |last=McCormick |first=Mike |date=March 6, 2011 |title=Historical Perspective: Wabash Valley women are prominent in arts and literature |url=https://www.tribstar.com/news/lifestyles/historical-perspective-wabash-valley-women-are-prominent-in-arts-and-literature/article_034c3281-8a7b-5e62-b208-1467dc8fc667.html |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=Terre Haute Tribune-Star |language=en}} the daughter of Ewald E. Reiman and Olga Paulini Reiman.{{Cite news |date=1948-04-05 |title=Mrs. Olga Reiman Succumbs at Home |pages=2 |work=The Terre Haute Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108823517/the-terre-haute-tribune/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her father was a bank president.{{Cite news |date=1951-11-20 |title=Ewald E. Reiman Dies; Terre Haute Leader |pages=18 |work=The Indianapolis Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108823421/ewald-e-reiman-dies-terre-haute-leader/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |via=Newspapers.com}} In childhood she studied dance with Ernestine Myers.{{Cite news |last=Nattkemper |first=Jane |date=1965-09-26 |title=Dancing Lessons are Fun to Girls Studying Ballet |pages=42 |work=The Terre Haute Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108713547/dancing-lessons-are-fun-to-girls/ |access-date=2022-09-02 |via=Newspapers.com}} She later studied under Adolph Bolm in San Francisco.{{Cite news |date=1993-08-28 |title=Elise Reiman, Teacher Of Ballet, Dies at 79 |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1993/08/28/obituaries/elise-reiman-teacher-of-ballet-dies-at-79.html |access-date=2022-09-02 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite news |last=Mason |first=Redfern |date=1933-05-28 |title=Adolph Bolm Will Offer First Fruits of Opera and Ballet School |pages=32 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108823076/adolph-bolm-will-offer-first-fruits-of/ |access-date=2022-09-02 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1934, Reiman started attending classes at the School of American Ballet in New York, co-founded by choreographer George Balanchine, during the school's second term.{{rp|50–51}}
Career
Reiman began her career working with Bolm, and created roles in his ballets Apollon Musagète (1928), as Calliope, and Mechanical Ballet (1931).{{Cite web |title=Elise Reiman in Bolm's "Le Ballet Mecanique" |url=https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/078c1340-f69e-012f-9ff0-58d385a7b928 |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=NYPL Digital Collections |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=Mechanical Ballet |url=https://www.abt.org/ballet/mechanical-ballet/ |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=American Ballet Theatre}}{{Cite journal |last=Hammer |first=Les |date=1997 |title="The Spirit of the Factory": Adolph Bolm's Post-Moderne Masterpiece |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1568066 |journal=Dance Chronicle |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=191–208 |doi=10.1080/01472529708569279 |jstor=1568066 |issn=0147-2526}} In 1930, she spent six months in Europe and performed as a guest artist, including at a garden party at Windsor Castle before the King and Queen.{{Cite news |date=1931-07-27 |title=Ballerina Will Dance at Bowl |pages=25 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108822552/ballerina-will-dance-at-bowl/ |access-date=2022-09-02 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Between 1935 and 1936, she danced at the American Ballet, co-founded by Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein.{{Cite book |last1=Tracy |first1=Robert |url=http://archive.org/details/balanchinesballe00trac |title=Balanchine's ballerinas : conversations with the Muses |last2=DeLano |first2=Sharon |date=1983 |publisher=New York : Linden Press/S&S |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-671-46146-1 |pages=70–74}} She created a role in the first ballet Balanchine choreographed in the United States, Serenade, followed by Reminiscence, Transcendance and Alma Mater (all 1935), the latter performed on Broadway.{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-production/alma-mater-11961|title=Alma Mater|work=Internet Broadway Database|accessdate=2022-09-03}} Also in 1935, she performed in the American premiere of Balanchine's Mozartiana.{{Cite news |last=Harris |first=Dale |date=1993-09-07 |title=Mr. B's Dance Disciple |pages=37 |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108822724/mr-bs-dance-discipledale-harris/ |access-date=2022-09-02 |via=Newspapers.com}} During this period, due to American Ballet's association with the Metropolitan Opera, she also danced in opera ballets that featured choreography by Balanchine, including Delibes's Lakmé, Hageman's Caponsacchi and Ponchielli's La Gioconda. In 1937, Reiman danced in the first revival of Balanchine's Apollo as Terpsichore.
After Balanchine moved to the West Coast in 1938, Reiman remained in New York, and performed in Broadway shows throughout the early 1940s, including Liberty Jones (1941), The Lady Comes Across and Rosalinda (both 1942).{{cite web|url=https://www.ibdb.com/broadway-cast-staff/elise-reiman-57443|title=Elise Reiman - Broadway Cast & Staff}|work=Internet Broadway Database|accessdate=2022-09-03}} In 1945, Reiman was recruited to teach junior students at the School of American Ballet, and became the first alumna to teach at the school.{{Cite book |last=Dunning |first=Jennifer |url=http://archive.org/details/butfirstschoolfi0000dunn |title="But first a school" : the first fifty years of the School of American Ballet |date=1985 |publisher=New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Viking |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-670-80407-8}}{{rp|101}}
In 1946, Reiman joined the Ballet Society, co-founded by Balanchine and Kirstein, after the former's return to New York. On November 20, the company's first performance, Reiman originated roles in Balanchine's The Four Temperaments, in which she danced in the second theme opposite Lew Christensen, and The Spellbound Child.{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/repertoryinrevie00reyn|title=Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet|last=Reynolds|first=Nancy|year=1977|isbn=978-0-803-77368-4|publisher=New York : Dial Press|others=Internet Archive}}{{rp|71–72}} In 1947, she originated roles in Balanchine's Divertimento (now known as Haieff Divertimento), John Taras's The Minotaur and William Dollar's Highland Fling.{{rp|78–79}}{{Cite web |title=Haieff Divertimento |url=https://www.nycballet.com/discover/ballet-repertory/haieff-divertimento/ |access-date=2022-09-02 |website=New York City Ballet |language=en}} In 1948, she appeared in the American premiere of Balanchine's Symphony in C, in which she danced in the fourth movement alongside Christensen.{{rp|84}} Later that year, after Balanchine and Kirstein founded the New York City Ballet, she retired from performing.
Reiman left the School of American Ballet in 1953, but returned in 1964, after her husband's sudden death and at Balanchine's invitation. She taught children's and beginning pointe classes. In 1992, she was awarded the school's Mae L. Wien Faculty Award for distinguished service.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/12/arts/review-ballet-student-workshop-program-with-challenges-and-spirit.html|title=Review/Ballet; Student Workshop Program With Challenges and Spirit|work=The New York Times|last=Anderson|first=Jack|date=1991-06-12|accessdate=2022-09-03}} She continued teaching at the school until her death in 1993. Fellow Balanchine ballerina Maria Tallchief called Reiman "the bridge between generations, an important connection... She understood his passion for the classical principles he learned at the Imperial Ballet School in St. Petersburg and brought to this country. She was part of the line of succession".
Personal life
Reiman married Charles Varner Hotchkiss in 1951;{{Cite news |date=1951-04-07 |title=Miss Elsie Reiman Married in East |pages=5 |work=The Terre Haute Star |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/108823752/miss-elsie-reiman-married-in-east/ |access-date=2022-09-03 |via=Newspapers.com}} he died in 1963.
On August 26, 1993, Reiman died from an aneurysm, in Boston, at age 81.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- George Platt Lynes, [https://calisphere.org/item/973b7b30e75eabe85c904d14e784e787/ "Lew Christensen and Elise Reiman"] (1937 photograph), in the Christensen Family Digital Archive, Museum of Performance & Design, San Francisco
- {{IBDB name|id=57443}}
- {{Playbill person|id=0000079193}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Reiman, Elise}}
Category:20th-century American ballet dancers
Category:American ballet teachers
Category:Mae L. Wien Faculty Award recipients
Category:People from Terre Haute, Indiana