Wallmann, Margarethe (1901–19922)

German-born dancer, choreographer, and teacher. Name variations: Margarita Wallmann; Margaret Wallmann; Margarete Wallmann; Margherita Wallmann. Born, probably in Berlin, July 22, 1901; died in Monte Carlo, Monaco, May 2, 1992; studied ballet in Berlin under Eugenia Eduardowa and Olga Preobrazhenska,and later in Munich with Heinrich Kröll and Anna Ornelli.

Leading exponent of expressionist dance in pre-Hitler Germany and the 1st woman to achieve international acclaim as an opera director, moved to Dresden to study modern dance with Mary Wigman(1923); founded dance school based on Wigman's style (1927); by 1929, had founded her own dance company, the Tänzer-Kollektiv (Dancers' Collective); staged premiere of Das jüngste Gericht (The Last Judgment,1931) to music by Händel; closed dance school (1932), after an accident ended her career as an expressionist dancer; debuted in Salzburg as an opera producer with Gluck's Orpheus and Eurydice and choreographed Max Reinhardt's Faust (1933); was a regular guest at Salzburg Festival until 1937, serving as its chief choreographer; fled Germany when Nazis came to power (1933); turned away from Wigman's ideas on modern dance, preferring more traditional ballet-oriented dance styles; appointed ballet mistress of Vienna's Staatsoper (State Opera, 1934); at La Scala, choreographed operas by Boïto, Gluck, and Verdi, and ballets by Respighi (The Birds and Ancient Airs and Dances); also choreographed Greta Garbo film Anna Karenina (1935); had last Vienna triumph with Carmen (1937); fled Austria for Buenos Aires (1938) and worked for next decade with Teatro Colón; returned to Europe (1948); for next 4 decades, worked as an opera director; in Italy, directed an astonishing number of operas—14 by Verdi alone—many of these at La Scala; while directing operas across the range of the lyric repertory, including Maria Callas in Norma and La Gioconda, enjoyed specializing in modern works, including operas by contemporary composers such as Strauss, Stravinsky, Falla, Milhaud, Castelnuovo-Tedesco and Penderecki; directed world premiere of Poulenc's Dialogues des Carmélites (1957); also directed operas at Covent Garden, Metropolitan Opera and Chicago's Lyric Opera.

See also Women in World History.