Dancing under Bodenwieser
In the 1930’s, New Zealand teenager Shona Dunlop studied at the Vienna State Academy with expressionist dancer and choreographer Gertrud Bodenwieser, later joining the Bodenwieser Ballet. Forced out of Vienna in 1938 as many of the dancers were Jewish, the company first toured to South America, then based itself in Australia, touring New Zealand in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In 1986, Shona researched and wrote a book on Bodenwieser, ‘An Ecstasy of Purpose’, which was also translated into German.
The South American Tour (1938)
During the flight to Bogota, Columbia, the plane suddenly plummeted thousands of feet. “We stepped on Terra Firma with enormous relief, incapable of making the sort of glamorous impression we had intended upon a large reception committee awaiting us. However, most of us managed to turn angelic faces to the camera and receive bouquets of exotic sprays of orchid with grace.”
-An Ecstasy of Purpose: The Life and Art of Gertrud Bodenwiser, pg 55
The Sydney Studio (1939)
The War meant there could be no return to Austria for Bodenwieser and her dancers, so when the South American tour ended after nearly a year, the decision was made for them to make Australia their home as New Zealand offered too few opportunities in 1939.
“It was an emotional moment when the Maunganui docked at Woolloomooloo and Frau Gerty embraced her Viennese dancers. She had not expected to see them again. Sydney being much larger and more cosmopolitan than Wellington presented a happier picture to Bodenwieser, especially as it was home to several of her dancers. For the first time since fleeing her beloved Wien she began to feel a little hopeful. Her family and friends were lost to her, but at least her art could continue. By immersing herself in work, she could perhaps learn to overcome some of the pain and anguish she had known.”
Leap of Faith, pg 88The Viennese dancers to make up the new Bodenwieser Ballet including Shona were Emmy Towsey (Taussig), Bettina Vernon, Melitta Melzer, Evelyn Ippen and Katya Georgieva. To Shona’s joy, some years later they were to be joined by Hilary Napier, her great friend from the Vienna days who later became her sister-in-law.