Elise Reiman

Olga Elise Reiman[2] (October 17, 1911[3] – 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,[4] 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.

Elise Reiman
A young white woman with bobbed dark hair cut in bangs, photographed in profile
Elise Reiman, from a 1931 newspaper
Born
Olga Elise Reiman

(1911-10-17)October 17, 1911
Terre Haute, Indiana, U.S.
DiedAugust 26, 1993(1993-08-26) (aged 81)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
Other namesElise Reiman Hotchkiss[1]
Occupations
  • ballet dancer
  • dance educator
Spouse
Charles Varner Hotchkiss
​
​
(m. 1951; died 1963)​

Early life and education

Reiman was born in Terre Haute, Indiana,[5] the daughter of Ewald E. Reiman and Olga Paulini Reiman.[2] Her father was a bank president.[6] In childhood she studied dance with Ernestine Myers.[1] She later studied under Adolph Bolm in San Francisco.[4][7] 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.[8]: 50–51 

Career

Reiman began her career working with Bolm,[9] and created roles in his ballets Apollon Musagète (1928), as Calliope, and Mechanical Ballet (1931).[10][11][12] 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.[9]

Between 1935 and 1936, she danced at the American Ballet, co-founded by Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein.[13] 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.[13][14] Also in 1935, she performed in the American premiere of Balanchine's Mozartiana.[15] During this period, due to American Ballet's association with the Metropolitan Opera, she also danced in opera ballets that featured choreography by Balanchine,[15] including Delibes's Lakmé, Hageman's Caponsacchi and Ponchielli's La Gioconda.[13] In 1937, Reiman danced in the first revival of Balanchine's Apollo as Terpsichore.[15]

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).[16] 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.[8]: 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.[17]: 71–72 [4] 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.[13][17]: 78–79 [18] In 1948, she appeared in the American premiere of Balanchine's Symphony in C, in which she danced in the fourth movement alongside Christensen.[17]: 84  Later that year, after Balanchine and Kirstein founded the New York City Ballet, she retired from performing.[15]

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.[4][13] In 1992, she was awarded the school's Mae L. Wien Faculty Award for distinguished service.[19] She continued teaching at the school until her death in 1993.[15] 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".[15]

Personal life

Reiman married Charles Varner Hotchkiss in 1951;[20] he died in 1963.[4]

On August 26, 1993, Reiman died from an aneurysm, in Boston, at age 81.[15]

References
  1. Nattkemper, Jane (1965-09-26). "Dancing Lessons are Fun to Girls Studying Ballet". The Terre Haute Tribune. p. 42. Retrieved 2022-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  2. "Mrs. Olga Reiman Succumbs at Home". The Terre Haute Tribune. 1948-04-05. p. 2. Retrieved 2022-09-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  3. Many 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
  4. "Elise Reiman, Teacher Of Ballet, Dies at 79". The New York Times. 1993-08-28. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  5. McCormick, Mike (March 6, 2011). "Historical Perspective: Wabash Valley women are prominent in arts and literature". Terre Haute Tribune-Star. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  6. "Ewald E. Reiman Dies; Terre Haute Leader". The Indianapolis Star. 1951-11-20. p. 18. Retrieved 2022-09-03 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. Mason, Redfern (1933-05-28). "Adolph Bolm Will Offer First Fruits of Opera and Ballet School". The San Francisco Examiner. p. 32. Retrieved 2022-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. Dunning, Jennifer (1985). "But first a school" : the first fifty years of the School of American Ballet. Internet Archive. New York, N.Y., U.S.A. : Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-80407-8.
  9. "Ballerina Will Dance at Bowl". The Los Angeles Times. 1931-07-27. p. 25. Retrieved 2022-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Elise Reiman in Bolm's "Le Ballet Mecanique"". NYPL Digital Collections. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  11. "Mechanical Ballet". American Ballet Theatre. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  12. Hammer, Les (1997). ""The Spirit of the Factory": Adolph Bolm's Post-Moderne Masterpiece". Dance Chronicle. 20 (2): 191–208. doi:10.1080/01472529708569279. ISSN 0147-2526. JSTOR 1568066.
  13. Tracy, Robert; DeLano, Sharon (1983). Balanchine's ballerinas : conversations with the Muses. Internet Archive. New York : Linden Press/S&S. pp. 70–74. ISBN 978-0-671-46146-1.
  14. "Alma Mater". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  15. Harris, Dale (1993-09-07). "Mr. B's Dance Disciple". The Guardian. p. 37. Retrieved 2022-09-02 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "Elise Reiman - Broadway Cast & Staff}". Internet Broadway Database. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  17. Reynolds, Nancy (1977). Repertory in Review: 40 Years of the New York City Ballet. Internet Archive. New York : Dial Press. ISBN 978-0-803-77368-4.
  18. "Haieff Divertimento". New York City Ballet. Retrieved 2022-09-02.
  19. Anderson, Jack (1991-06-12). "Review/Ballet; Student Workshop Program With Challenges and Spirit". The New York Times. Retrieved 2022-09-03.
  20. "Miss Elsie Reiman Married in East". The Terre Haute Star. 1951-04-07. p. 5. Retrieved 2022-09-03 – via Newspapers.com.
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