Hanya Holm

(1893-1992)
Born in 1893 in Worms, Germany, Hanya Holm was a student and dancer with Mary Wigman. In 1931, fleeing from Nazi persecution, she opened a Wigman school in New York, renamed the Hanya Holm Studio in 1936. 

In addition to works for her own company, she choreographed musicals such as Kiss me Kate (1948), My Fair Lady (1956) and Camelot (1960) and encouraged use of dance notation. When she created Ratatat in 1982, she was ninety-two years old, proving the tremendous vitality of this woman who had lived through the tumult of the 20th century! Among her disciples are a large number of American artists, dancers and choreographers, including Alwin Nikolais.