HANYA HOLM: The Biography of an Artist

by Walter Sorell ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 8, 1969

Hanya Holm is one of our country's leading modern dance innovators, instructors, and choreographers, probably best known generally for her work in such Broadway productions as Kiss Me Kate and My Fair Lady. This is graceful biography that contains much intriguing comment on the aesthetics and dynamics of the dance in general, illuminating, of necessity, the personality of Miss Holm who is virtually inseparable from her work. Born and educated in Germany, she evolved her theories of organic dynamicism from her studies with the then revolutionary modernist, Mary Wigman, known as ""the Eleanor Duse of the Dance."" Miss Wigman's style so impressed Sol Hurok that he persuaded her to open a school in America and the young Hanya was imported to start it. Miss Holm was sensitive to the lyricism and gawky freedom of American life and she incorporated it into her techniques based on enlightened improvisation. Soon her school and her performances were attracting wide-eyed critical attention. This is drawn from letters, articles, reviews, programs and interviews and a year of absorbing the work now underway in Colorado Springs. An adamantine artist, Miss Holm's approach and philosophy should both benefit and inspire. For a special audience.

Pub Date: May 8, 1969

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Wesleyan Univ. Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1969

Categories: NONFICTION