Sonia Revid Explained

Sonia Revid
Birth Date:9 May 1902
Birth Place:Riga, Latvia
Death Place:Melbourne, Australia
Nationality:Russian, Australian (naturalized 1937)
Occupation:Dancer

Sonia Revid (23 Jan 1902 – 8 Aug 1947)[1] was a dancer born in Riga, and based in Melbourne for much of her career.

Early life

Sonia Revid was born in Riga to a Jewish family and lived in Saint Petersburg until she moved to Berlin in 1921. She studied modern dance in Dresden with Mary Wigman.[2] [3]

Career

Revid visited relatives in Melbourne in 1932, and stayed to give dance performances[4] and teach dance at her own studio,[5] the Sonia Revid School of Modern Art Dance, later known as the Sonia Revid School of Art, Dance, and Body Culture,[6] the latter name reflecting her shift towards dance as a public health project.[7] One of her students was Australian dancer and choreographer Louise Lightfoot.[8] She spent a year teaching and performing in Auckland, New Zealand, in 1938 and 1939, under the auspices of the Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA).[9] [10] [11]

Revid took an interest how dance might improved the lives of needy children in Melbourne,[12] and offered free dance and health classes to children in the Fitzroy neighborhood. She gave benefit recitals, and published a pamphlet about her ideas on the subject, "Do Slum Children Distinguish Light From Dark?" She created a didactic dance programme on oral hygiene, titled Little Fool and Her Adventures, with music by Gounod and Saint-Saëns. She created another topical dance piece, The Bushfire Drama (1940),[13] referencing the severe bushfire season of 1939 in Victoria.[14] [15]

Personal life

Revid died in 1945, aged 43 years, in Melbourne. Her papers are archived at the State Library Victoria.[16]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sonia Revid . 2022-05-07 . geni_family_tree . en-US.
  2. Book: Brissenden. Alan. Australia Dances: Creating Australian Dance 1945-1965. Glennon. Keith. 2010. Wakefield Press. 978-1-86254-802-2. 190. en.
  3. News: Wilkinson. Kenneth. DANCE RECITAL BY SONIA REVID. 1941-06-04. Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954). 2020-04-02. 17. Trove.
  4. News: Recital of Original Dances.. 1933-09-25. Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 2020-04-02. 13. Trove.
  5. News: NEW SCHOOL OF DANCING A Mary Wigman Follower. 1933-07-19. Herald (Melbourne, Vic. : 1861 - 1954). 2020-04-02. 16. Trove.
  6. Book: Dixon. Robert. Impact of the Modern: Vernacular Modernities in Australia 1870s-1960s. Kelly. Veronica. 2008. Sydney University Press. 978-1-920898-89-2. 31. en.
  7. Web site: Hidden women of history: Sonia Revid created public health ballet at the height of 'dance fever'. Gaylor. Averyl. 17 March 2020. The Conversation. en. 2020-04-02.
  8. Web site: Louise Lightfoot and the first Australian Ballet. Cecchetti International Classical Ballet. en-US. 2020-04-02.
  9. News: SONIA REVID'S DANCING. 1938-09-27. Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1957). 2020-04-02. 5. Trove.
  10. News: Radiant Health. 9 November 1938. Auckland Star. April 2, 2020. 15. Papers Past.
  11. News: Modern Art Dance; Miss Sonia Revid; Compelling Interpretations. 11 November 1938. Auckland Star. April 2, 2020. 12. Papers Past.
  12. News: Teaching Children Art of Graceful Movement. 1938-09-17. Australian Women's Weekly (1933 - 1982). 2020-04-02. 36.
  13. News: BUSH FIRE DRAMA.. 1940-04-03. Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 2020-04-02. 8. Trove.
  14. Book: Lindgren. Allana. The Modernist World. Ross. Stephen. 2015-06-05. Routledge. 978-1-317-69616-2. 262. en.
  15. News: Dance Compositions. 1941-06-04. Age (Melbourne, Vic. : 1854 - 1954). 2020-04-02. 13. Trove.
  16. Card. Amanda. June 1999. Prominence in obscurity: Sonia Revid in Melbourne 1932-1945. Brolga. 10. 7–19.

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