May 6
Born Today:
Lew Christensen
One of the three Christensen brothers who supported the establishment of professional ballet companies in the United States in the mid-twentieth century, Lew Christensen (1909-1984) is the brother of Harold (1904-1989) and Willam Christensen (1902-2001). The three learned European folk and social dances from their uncle, who they studied with as children. They began performing on the vaudeville circuit and made their way to New York, where Lew began studying ballet with George Balanchine (1904-1983) and joined an early version of the New York City Ballet company, becoming the first American to dance the lead role in Apollo (1928). Lew married Gisella Caccialanza (1914-1998) a few years after choreographing his most famous work, Filling Station (1938). After serving in WWII, Lew briefly became the ballet master at NYCB, but was lured away by his brothers to work on the West Coast for the San Francisco Ballet in 1948. He served in a director role from 1949-1984, fashioning the company’s neoclassical repertoire and raising the troupe’s profile to compete with international ballet companies.
Also Born Today: Modern dancer Gertrud Kraus (c.1903-1977) studied with Gertrude Bodenwieser (1890-1959) and worked with Rudolf Laban (1879-1958) before laying the foundation for modern dance to thrive in Israel. Dancer and silent film star Rudolph Valentino (1895-1926) taught ballroom dance before becoming a movie star and was married to dancer and costume designer Natacha Rambova (1897-1966). Sri Lankan dancer/choreographer Kulasiri Budawatta (1950-2021) came from a family of traditional dancers and excelled in the Kandyan style. Ballerina Alessandra Ferri (1963-) danced with the Royal Ballet, ABT, and retired for the first time in 2007, but continued dancing. Ballroom dancer Edyta Śliwińska (1981-) is best known for appearances on the TV dance reality show Dancing with the Stars, and is married to fellow DWTS alum Alec Mazo (1978-).
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Dance Film Premiere: The Line, the Cross and the Curve in 1994