WALLMANN, Margarethe 1904(?)-1992

(Margarita Wallmann)

PERSONAL: Given name sometimes cited as "Margarete" or "Margherita"; born June 22, 1904 (some sources cite July 22, 1901), in Berlin, Germany (some sources cite Vienna, Austria); died May 2, 1992, in Monte Carlo, Monaco. Education: Studied ballet in Berlin, Germany, with Eugenia Eduardowa, and in Munich, Germany, with Heinrich Kröll and Anna Ornelli; studied in Dresden, Germany, with Mary Wigman, beginning 1923. Religion: Jewish.

CAREER: Member of touring dance company of Mary Wigman, 1920s; Wigman School, Berlin, Germany, director, beginning 1929; Dancers' Collective, founder, dancer, and choreographer, beginning 1930; Vienna State Opera, Vienna, Austria, choreographer and ballet director, 1933-39; Teatro Colón Ballet, Buenos Aires, Argentina, founder and affiliate, c. 1939-48; opera director in Milan, Italy, beginning 1949, and elsewhere, 1954-70s; director of opera productions in Monte Carlo, Monaco, beginning 1972.

AWARDS, HONORS: First prize, Third Dancers' Congress, Munich, Germany, 1930, for choreography of ballet Orpheus Dionysos; first prize for opera staging, Salzburg Festival; Toscanini Medal; Puccini Prize; Max Reinhardt Medal.

WRITINGS:

(Under name Margarita Wallmann) Les balcons du ciél, R. Laffont (Paris, France), 1976.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

books

International Dictionary of Modern Dance, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1998.

International Dictionary of Opera, St. James Press (Detroit, MI), 1993.

periodicals

Hi Fidelity/Musical American, March, 1955, W. Legge, "Opera on Three Fronts," p. 138; August, 1968, W. Weaver, "Maggio Musicale—A Dying Institution?," p. 28.

New York Times, October 11, 1964, E. Downes, "A Chic, Blond Dynamo," pp. 2-11.

Opera News, April 6, 1959, E. de Weerth, "Super-woman," p. 26; October 17, 1964, "Determined Lady," p. 14.*