Sandra Severo
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Sandra Severo | |
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| Born | Maryann Sandra Severo August 10, 1911 Detroit |
| Died | March 30, 1991 (aged 79) Michigan |
| Citizenship | Polish-American |
| Occupation | Dancer |
| Known for | Founder of Severo School of Ballet |
Maryann Sandra Severo (née Smolińska; August 10 1911 – March 30 1991) was Polish-American dancer and founder of Severo School of Ballet.
Early Life
Sandra Smolińska was born in Detroit on August 10, 1911, to a family of Polish immigrants, who raised her according to Polish culture and tradition. In their household they used Polish language exclusively, which resulted in the adoption of English language by Sandra when she was fifteen.[1] As a result, her whole life she spoke with a distinct central-European accent. She grew up in atmosphere of rigor and attachment to tradition, which hugely impacted her character.[2] Her dream of becoming a professional dancer came to her quite early, after watching "This lovely girl in ballerina’s tutu" at eight year old, which made her desire to perform on stage. Her parents were opposed to her dreams and her father stated that stage performing is not a valid career path for a woman and didn’t allowed her to attend ballet lessons. He only agreed on compromise and purchase of piano, explaining that playing an instrument is much more fitting for a young woman than stage performance.[3] Only after her parents death, when she was only fourteen, her professional career could begin.
Professional career
Smolińska began her career with signing to The Bonstelle Theatre ballet school. It was a late start for ambitious woman, that wanted to shine as ballet dancer. She planned to learn balance on her toes as soon as possible, not paying much attention to her health, which caused serious injuries later in her life. She lost her nails on her toes and her bones got damaged. She later stated that she was for a time "bitter and unhappy". Nevertheless, she had to return to dancing as her life situation hurt more than her wounds.[4]
Later, she opened her first dancing school, where she taught multiple dancing styles like tap, jazz and ballet. Key moment in her career was trip to Massachusetts in 1941 to take lessons in Jacob’s Pillow, which was a famous dancing school, where Sandra was taught dancing by Dimitri Romanoff. When she returned to Detroit, she decided to teach ballet exclusively. From 150 pupils, only 17 became professional dancers. Sandra also took dancing lessons from other dancing virtuosos, like Bronisława Niżyńska, Alicia Markova, Anton Dolin, Edward Caton and Ted Shawn.[5]
Her Severo School of Ballet was founded in 1955 in Detroit and it after some time, became the main center of promotion of ballet arts in the region.[6] Sandra’s teaching methods were very strict but effective. She was known for high discipline and character as she required the greatest professionalism from her pupils. Robert Warren, one of her pupils, described her first meeting with Sandra Severo in following manner:
This is when I decided that I want to become a dancer. Nevertheless, I was afraid of Mrs. Severo. She was a tyrant in her class. Although, many teachers, that seemed absolute tyrants in their class, at the end of the day, train only best of the best dancers in the world, like Ron, who became main dancer of Atlanta Ballet. However, I was learning for a few years under Mrs. Severo. This was obligatory, if you were a dancer from Detroit and you aimed to be the best of the best.[7]
Pupils of Sandra Severo conquered stages and hearts of spectators around the world. Barbara Remington was performing in Royal Ballet (London), Beverly Barsanti and others performed in American Ballet Theater, Eugenia Paul and Rima Erickson worked in Hollywood, Grant Delaney and Margery Beddow performed in Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Broadway. The list of Severo’s pupils also included Evelyn Bodnar, Sybil Scotsford, Sara Lou Cooper and Nancy Unger.[8]
Severo was also successful as choreographer. She was the creator of dance routines for "Concerto", "Portrait of the ball" and "Serenade". She also cooperated with Laur Dancing Society and Detroit Symphony Orchestra. For two decades, her studio, together with Detroit Symphony, was in charge of local "The Nutcracker" performance. Amongst community of Detroit such performances were intrinsic element of Christmas and local tradition. Nevertheless, her studio started to struggle financially. They didn’t had the money for performance production and wages for musicians and dancers. Severo complained about lack of space for scenography and costumes, which resulted in their decay and destruction.[9] To the bitter end, Sandra wanted to expand her dance school and increase the quality of its performances but due to financial struggles, school closed in 1962.
She was awarded Humanitarian Medallion of Presidents Cabinet (UDM) and the title of "Most Exciting Woman in Detroit".[3]
Death and legacy
For many years she lived in cultural center of Detroit, near Public Library and Institute of Arts. For safety reasons she moved to Livonia in 1969, where she lived amongst her friends and spent most of her time on walks.[3] Sandra Severo died on March 30, 1991, in state of Michigan.
References
- ↑ Stark, Al (December 3, 1972). "Sandra Severo - the fiery lady who makes Detroit dance". The Sunday News Magazine. p. 32.
- ↑ Wytrwal, Joseph Anthony (1992). The Polish experience in Detroit. p. 183.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Whittaker, Jeanne (May 27, 1973). "Tough and talented". Detroit Free Press. Detroit. p. 48 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Wytrwal, Joseph Anthony (1992). The polish experience in Detroit. p. 388.
- ↑ Wytrwal, Joseph Anthony (1992). The polish experience in Detroit. p. 389.
- ↑ "Tea to Boost Severo Ballet". Grosse Pointe News. Vol. 22, no. 42. October 19, 1961. p. 15.
- ↑ Warren, Robert (2004). "Dancing Days".
- ↑ Callaghan, Dorsey (June 28, 1959). "The ballet queen". Detroit Free Press. Detroit. p. 21 – via Newspapers.com.
- ↑ Abatt, Corinne (November 27, 1978). "Severo's ballet classic marks change". Canton Observer. Vol. 4, no. 29. pp. 6B.
External links
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