Erika Thimey Explained

Erika Thimey
Birth Date:1910
Birth Place:Itzehoe
Death Date:September 20, 2006
Death Place:Hagerstown, Maryland
Nationality:German, later American
Occupation:Dancer, dance educator
Years Active:1930s-1990s
Known For:Modern dance, liturgical dance

Erika Thimey (1910 – September 20, 2006) was a German dancer and dance educator, based for most of her career in Washington, D.C.

Early life

Thimey was born in Itzehoe, Germany in 1901. She trained as a dancer in Berlin, and in Dresden with Mary Wigman and Hanya Holm.[1] [2]

Career

Thimey performed one season with an opera in Dessau, before she moved to the United States in 1932.[3] In 1936, she danced the lead role of Undine in a large summer spectacle involving over 100 dancers and a live orchestra, celebrating the fountains in Chicago parks.[4] She was dance director at the North Shore Conservatory in Chicago, before she moved to Boston in 1938, to teach and dance with Austrian dancer Jan Veen.[5] She performed with the Boston Pops Orchestra, and toured the United States with Veen.[6] [7]

Beginning during her Chicago years,[8] Thimey was known for her works in liturgical dance,[9] [10] and was an active member of the Sacred Dance Guild of America. "She regards sacred dancing simply as a modernization of the age-old pageantry of the church," explained a Chicago newspaper in 1941.[11]

Thimey was a dance teacher and choreographer in the Washington, D.C. area for most of her career. She was dance instructor at King-Smith Studio School.[12] She opened her own school, Dance Theatre Studios, in 1944, with classes for adults and children. Her students performed as the Washington Dance Theatre.[13] [14] [15] She also taught modern dance at Howard University,[16] and at various schools, camps, and community organizations.[17] Among her notable students were Paul Sanasardo[18] and Susan Rethorst.[19]

She was a co-founder of the Modern Dance Council of Washington in 1953. She retired from teaching in 1979. There was a retrospective concert of her works in 1980, at an art gallery on Capitol Hill.[20]

Personal life and legacy

Thimey retired to Smithsburg, Maryland in 1979, and lived in a converted church with her sister, Hertha Woltersdorf.[21] The sisters offered their unusual home for performance and exhibit space,[22] [23] and Thimey worked with local churches on liturgical works until 2001. She died at a nursing home in Hagerstown, Maryland, in 2006, aged 96 years.

Thimey's papers, including films, videotapes, and sound recordings, are in the Historical Society of Washington, D.C. There is a 1980 interview with Thimey on video in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library.[24] There is also a 1985 interview with Thimey (audio only) in the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.[25] and some correspondence in the Pola Nirenska collection at the Library of Congress.[26]

The Erika Thimey Dance and Theatre Company, co-founded by James E. Mayo, continues to perform in the Washington area.[27] There is an Erika Thimey Scholarship in Dance at the University of Maryland.[28]

External links

Notes and References

  1. https://dchistory.pastperfectonline.com/archive/DB9D5093-5F1B-459D-BBAE-966951227363 Archive record, Erika Thimey Collection
  2. Book: Manning, Susan. Ecstasy and the Demon: The Dances of Mary Wigman. 2006. U of Minnesota Press. 978-0-8166-3802-4. 92. en.
  3. News: Rhythmic Dances With Devotional Christmas Theme. 1935-12-14. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 2020-04-10. 7. Newspapers.com.
  4. News: 103 South Side Girls in Cast of Fountain Dance; Three Night Spectacle to Open Friday. 1936-07-12. Chicago Tribune. 2020-04-11. 36. Newspapers.com.
  5. Book: Weber, Jody Marie. The Evolution of Aesthetic and Expressive Dance in Boston. 2009. Cambria Press. 978-1-60497-621-2. 111–112. en.
  6. News: Martin. John. Veen-Thimey in Recital. 19 December 1941. The New York Times. 34. ProQuest.
  7. News: Boston Dancer Duo Pleases in Program at STC Last Night. 1943-04-02. The Maryville Daily Forum. 2020-04-10. 3. Newspapers.com.
  8. News: Religious Dance for Millikin. 1938-03-10. The Decatur Daily Review. 2020-04-11. 32. Newspapers.com.
  9. Book: Taylor, Margaret Fisk. A Time to Dance: Symbolic Movement in Worship. 2009-11-01. Wipf and Stock Publishers. 978-1-60899-131-0. 139. en.
  10. News: Dancer to Stage Sermon in Motion at Boro Church. 1941-05-03. The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. 2020-04-10. 10. Newspapers.com.
  11. News: Lord's Prayer is Theme for Church Dance. 1941-03-23. Chicago Tribune. 2020-04-10. 29. Newspapers.com.
  12. Jewell. Margaret. February 1940. News from the Dance Section. Journal of Health and Physical Education. 11. 5. 316–317. 10.1080/23267240.1940.10625910.
  13. Wolfe. Katherine. May 1950. Dance Section News. Journal of the American Association for Health, Physical Education and Recreation. 21. 4. 242–246. 10.1080/23267232.1950.10626201.
  14. News: Erika Thimey's Dance Theatre Will Dance Two Evenings at Park Arts Festival. 1974-06-24. The Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland). 2020-04-10. 49. Newspapers.com.
  15. News: Erika Thimey Dancers to Perform. 1975-06-18. The Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland). 2020-04-10. 7. Newspapers.com.
  16. June 1954. From Washington D.C.. Journal of the American Association for Health, Physical Education, and Recreation. 34.
  17. News: Miss Erika Thimey to Dance Sunday at Camp Norfleet. 1951-08-11. The Burlington Free Press. 2020-04-11. 9. Newspapers.com.
  18. Web site: Paul Sanasardo. Oxford Dictionary of Dance. en. 2020-04-10.
  19. Web site: A Conversation about SUPA: Choreography in Depth. June 2011. Contact Quarterly. en. 2020-04-10.
  20. News: Jackson. George. Erika Thimey. 1980-05-17. Washington Post. 2020-04-10. en-US. 0190-8286.
  21. News: Powell. Libbie. Smithsburg Church Now Home to Famed Dance Instructor. 1971-06-23. The Daily Mail (Hagerstown, Maryland). 2020-04-10. 27. Newspapers.com.
  22. News: Sussman. Marcella. Church Building Becomes Home for 'Church Dancer' (1). 1980-09-14. The Baltimore Sun. 2020-04-11. 288. Newspapers.com.
  23. News: Sussman. Marcella. Church Building Becomes Home for 'Church Dancer' (2). 1980-09-14. The Baltimore Sun. 2020-04-11. 289. Newspapers.com.
  24. Web site: Erika Thimey: dances and conversations. NYPL Digital Collections. en. 2020-04-10.
  25. Web site: Oral history interview with Erika Thimey. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. 2020-04-10.
  26. Web site: Pola Nirenska collection. Library of Congress. 2020-04-10.
  27. Web site: Erika Thimey Dance and Theater Company. GuideStar. 2020-04-10.
  28. Web site: Scholarships, fellowships and grants. School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies, University of Maryland. en. 2020-04-10.

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