Jocelyn Vollmar
{{Short description|American ballerina}}
Jocelyn Vollmar (November 25, 1925{{cite web |title=Jocelyn Vollmar, Born 11/25/1925 in California {{!}} CaliforniaBirthIndex.org |url=https://www.californiabirthindex.org/birth/jocelyn_vollmar_born_1925_997009 |website=www.californiabirthindex.org |access-date=12 September 2021}} – July 13, 2018) was an American ballerina, known for her career with the San Francisco Ballet.{{Cite web|url=https://www.legacy.com/obituaries/sfgate/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=189803849|title = Jocelyn Vollmar Obituary (1925 - 2018) San Francisco Chronicle}}
Career
Vollmar was born in San Francisco, California, where she began dancing with the San Francisco Ballet at age 12. Under the tutelage of Willam Christensen,[https://www.nytimes.com/2001/10/17/arts/willam-christensen-99-dies-helped-ballet-flourish-in-us.html Willam Christensen Obituary] Jack Anderson, October 17, 2001, New York Times Vollmar started dancing in small roles with the San Francisco Ballet in productions including the 1939 premiere of Coppélia and the first full-length Swan Lake produced in America, in 1940.[http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/03/07/PK1FV9P1G.DTL Biography from Jocelyn Vollmar of S.F. Ballet] San Francisco Gate Mary Ellen Hunt, March 9, 2008
Upon her graduation from Lowell High School at age 17, she joined the company. With the San Francisco Ballet, Vollmar went on to dance as the Snow Queen in The Nutcracker in 1944, in its first full American production.{{cite web|url=https://www.sfballet.org/performancestickets/nutcracker/americasfirstsnowqueen.asp|title=404: Page Not Found|website=www.sfballet.org}}
In 1948, Vollmar was invited by George Balanchine to dance as a principal with New York City Ballet during its inaugural year. After the New York City Ballet, Vollmar also danced with the American Ballet Theatre and Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas (the precursor of the Grand Ballet de Monte Carlo). Vollmar was invited by Edouard Borovansky, the former Ballets Russes dancer, to dance with the Borovansky Ballet, the precursor of the Australian Ballet, in 1954, where she stayed for two years. While in Australia, Vollmar danced leading roles in Giselle, Les Sylphides, The Nutcracker and several ballets restaged from the Ballets Russes repertoire, including Petrushka.{{cite web|url=http://www.australiadancing.org/subjects/5041.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051107200219/http://www.australiadancing.org/subjects/5041.html|url-status=usurped|archive-date=November 7, 2005|title=Australia Dancing Biography|publisher=}}
Vollmar returned to the San Francisco Ballet in 1956, and danced with the company until 1972, retiring after the Nutcracker season in 1972.[http://www.sfpalm.org/COLLECTION%20PAGES/personalpapers2.html Personal Papers]{{Dead link|date=February 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} Museum of Performance & Design After retiring as a dancer, Vollmar served as a teacher and choreographer for several ballet companies. She was a teacher at the San Francisco Ballet School from 1985 to 2005.
References
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External links
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- [http://www.sfballet.org/performancestickets/nutcracker/americasfirstnutcrackers.asp Article from the SF Ballet about the First Production of the Nutcracker]
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Category:American prima ballerinas
Category:New York City Ballet principal dancers
Category:San Francisco Ballet principal dancers