Grete Wiesenthal | |
|---|---|
 From the time of my first dance, from her autobiography,Der Aufstieg (1919) | |
| Born | (1885-12-09)9 December 1885 Vienna,Austria-Hungary |
| Died | 22 June 1970(1970-06-22) (aged 84) Vienna,Austria |
| Alma mater | Vienna State Opera |
| Known for | Ecstatic modern dance[1] |
| Notable work | Choreography forThe Blue Danube |
| Spouse(s) | Erwin Lang 1910, div. 1923 Nils Silfverskjöld 1923, div. 1927 |
| Relatives | Elsa (sister, danced with her) |
Grete Wiesenthal (9 December 1885 – 22 June 1970) was an Austrian dancer, actor,choreographer, and dance teacher. She transformed theViennese Waltz from a staple of theballroom into a wildlyecstatic dance. She was trained at theVienna Court Opera, but left to develop her own more expressive approach, creatingballets to music byFranz Schreker,Clemens von Franckenstein, andFranz Salmhofer, as well as dancing in her own style to the waltzes ofJohann Strauss II. She is considered a leading figure inmodern dance in Austria.
Grete Wiesenthal was born in Vienna on 9 December 1885, daughter of the painter Franz Wiesenthal and his wife Rosa (née Ratkovsky). She had five sisters and a brother.[2] At the age of ten she joined the ballet school of theCourt Opera in Vienna, as did her sister Elsa, and from 1901 to 1907 she worked as a dancer there. In 1907, the conductor and composerGustav Mahler gave her the leading role of Fenella inLa Muette de Portici, overriding the ballet master, Joseph Hassreiter; the resulting scandal led Mahler to resign.[3][2]
Wiesenthal felt there was no artistry in the Court Opera, and developed her own approach to theViennese Waltz ofStrauss and the waltzes ofChopin,[4][5][6] linked to theVienna Secession group of artists and innovators.[2] Her dramatic andecstatic[1] choreography made her a leading figure in Austrian dance.[4][2][7] Meryl Cates ofThe New York Times characterised her approach as "swirling, euphoric movement and suspended arches of the body".[4] The Mahler Foundation described the effect of her choreography as "unbound hair and swinging dresses".[2] She called her approach "spherical dance", involving turning and extending the torso, arms, and legs on a horizontal axis, unlike the more vertical rotations of her contemporariesIsadora Duncan andRuth St Denis, who were also admired at that time in Vienna. Spinning was a core element in her dance.[4] The cultural historian Alys X. George said that this transformation of the Viennese waltz from ballroom standard to an outdoor avant-garde art form electrified the city.[4]
In 1908, Wiesenthal led her sisters Berta and Elsa at Vienna'sCabaret Fledermaus [de], the highlight being her "Danube waltzes" (Donauwalzer) solo performed toJohann Strauss II's "On the Beautiful Blue Danube".[4] They moved to Berlin, working there until 1910 at theDeutsches Theater.[2][5]
They toured both in Germany and internationally, taking their dance to Munich (Artist's Theatre, 1909)[2] London (Hippodrome 1909),[4] Paris (Théâtre du Vaudeville),[2] and New York (1912, Winter Theater) where they were warmly received.[4] She choreographed and appeared in the title role of the 1910 pantomime playSumurun at the Berlin Kammerspiel theatre, directed byMax Reinhardt with script byFriedrich Freksa [de]; a more elaborate production travelled to London in 1911 and New York in 1912.[8]Critics repeatedly commented on her delicacy of movement, charm, and femininity. However the leading ballerinaJolantha Seyfried [de], who danced Wiesenthal's works in the late 20th century, noted that the tiny movements were less well-suited to the large stage of theVienna State Opera.[4]
In 1912–1914, she was the leading dancer in the three "Grete Wiesenthal Series" films,Kadra Sâfa,Erlkönigs Tochter, andDie goldne Fliege.[2] After a pause in her career during the First World War, she opened her own school of dance in 1919.[2]
In 1927, she took the leading role in her own balletDer Taugenichts in Wien ("The Ne'er-Do-Well in Vienna") at the Vienna State Opera. She continued to give dance performances in Vienna and on tour. Her performances on her return to New York in 1933 however appeared dated to critics.[2][4] In 1934, she became a professor at the Academy for Music and the Performing Arts in Vienna, and in 1945 she became director of artistic dance there.[2]
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![Wiesenthal dancing Johann Strauss II's Frühlingsstimmen. Hand-coloured illustration by Leo Rauth [de], 1910](/mt/?noimg=&dark=on&url=http%3a%2f%2fen.wikipedia.org%2fwiki%2fFile%3aLeoRauthGreteWiesenthal.JPG)
Wiesenthal married Erwin Lang in June 1910, divorcing in 1923. She married the Swedish doctor Nils Silfverskjöld that same year, divorcing in 1927. She had one son, Martin.[2] In 1938, she helped Jewish friends, including the dancer Lily Calderon-Spitz, travel to Britain to escape theNazi persecution.[1]
She is buried in the Central Cemetery in Vienna. She is revered in Austria as a pioneer ofmodern dance, where her choreography saw a late 20th century renaissance.[4][2] In 2020, writing onTanz.at, Gunhild Oberzaucher-Schüller described her dance as "ever present".[9]
In 1981, a street in Vienna'sFavoriten district was named Wiesenthalgasse after her.[10]
Eine Wiesenthalgasse hat Wien übrigens schon jetzt, und zwar in Favoriten. Sie ist seit 1981 nach der Tänzerin Grete Wiesenthal (1885-1970) benannt.
Ein Wiener Ballett in sechse Biltern von Grete Wiesenthal. Musik von Franz Salmhofer. Inszenierung und Choreographie von Grete Wiesenthal. Der Taugenichts: Fr. Wiesenthal
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