May 19
Born Today:
Zena Rommett
The originator of the Floor Barre technique, ballerina Zena Rommett (1920-2010) revolutionized the teaching of ballet and the rehabilitation of injured dancers by changing the body’s relationship with gravity. As a young dancer, she studied with famed teaching couple Ludmilla Schollar (1888-1978) and Anatole Vilzak (1896-1998) and performed on Broadway in several shows, including Paint Your Wagon (1951) before dedicating herself to teaching. In 1965 she was invited by Robert Joffrey (1930-1988) to teach at his school and in 1968 she founded her own school in New York, attracting students from ballet, modern, and musical theatre backgrounds. Her students found that without the usual pull of gravity, they could focus attention on alignment, lengthening, and stabilization, and they could use the technique as injury prevention as well as rehab. In 1998, Rommett and her daughter began certifying others to teach the technique and the innovator taught until the age of 90.
Also Born Today: Choreographer Antoine Bournonville (1760-1843) danced with the Royal Swedish Ballet and was the ballet master for the Royal Danish Ballet, a post left to his son, famed choreographer August Bournonville (1805-1879). Biologist and body work pioneer Ida Rolf (1896-1979) created the alignment method called Rolfing, AKA Structural Integration, and began teaching it in the mid-1960s, leading her to create a formal training institute in 1971. Tap dancer Derick K. Grant (1973-) is best known for his work in the Broadway show Bring in Da Noise, Bring in Da Funk (1996) and has appeared on the TV show So You Think You Can Dance.
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TV Premiere: Glee (2009-2015)
Ballet Premiere: Prince Igor in 1909