Bolm, Adolf, 1894-1951.

Amata Grassi was born in New York on June 1, 1894. Originally named Anna Beatrice Koch she chose her stage name after her mother, Caroline Grasse (1837-1917). Amata Grassi began her dancing career with Anna Pavlova in 1917. In the following year, while touring in Buenos Aires, she met her future first husband, Chester Hale (Chamberlin). Soon after they left the famous dancer to form their own company. She also danced with the Adolph Bolm Ballet Intime and the Chicago Opera Co., toured in vaudeville, musical comedy and concert. In 1928 she was a premier dancer of Paul Whiteman’s Rio Romance . During World War II she was company manager of a Major Bowes unit that made a USO tour of Army camps. She was married to Chester Hale from September 1918 until May 1931. Around the mid-1940s she remarried, to Walter Hussen. After she ended her career as a dancer she began working at the Sheraton Hotel, and started to raise French poodles. In 1950 she is reported to have been an assistant at the hotel’s payroll department. Sources: · Amata Grassi Papers, An inventory of her papers at the University of Illinois at Chicago, Retrieved November 2, 2005 from http://www.uic.edu/depts/lib/specialcoll/services/rjd/findingaids/AGrassib.html · Chicago Sunday Times, Thursday June 22, 1950, section two-2

From the guide to the Amata B. Grassi papers, 1878-1971, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)

Adolf Bolm was born in 1884 in St. Petersburg, Russia. At the age of 16 he was accepted by Russia's famed Maryinsky Theatre where he attended school with Anna Pavlova and organized her first tour outside of Russia, dancing as her partner. He danced with the Ballet Russes for several years, working with Diaghilev and Nijinsky. He met his wife Beatrice (Beate) while on tour in Belgium and in 1916 the couple moved to the United States. A son, Olaf A. Bolm, was born on July 4, 1920. By 1926 he had opened a school in Chicago, and went on to work with the St. Louis Municipal Opera, the San Francisco Opera Ballet, the Chicago Lyrical Ballet, and Ballet Theatre in New York, among others. Over the course of his career Bolm was a dancer, choreographer, director, ballet tour organizer and teacher. He also mentored a number of well-known figures in the dance world including Ann Barzel, Syd (Cyd) Charisse, Janet Collins, Constance Finch, Marcia Gibson, Lester Horton, David Lober, Ruth Page, Rosalind Shaffer-deMille, and Ruth Syndon-Jenkins. He was one of five choreographers involved in the founding season for Ballet Theatre in New York. Bolm died in 1951. [Some information drawn from the Library of Congress Information Bulletin "Wandering Dancer," by Cyrus Parker-Jeanette, February 2005.]

From the guide to the Adolf Bolm Papers, 1884-1951, (Special Collections Research Center, Syracuse University Libraries)

Adolph Bolm, born in St. Petersburg, Russia, September 25, 1884, entered the Maryinsky Theatre at age 9. A student of varied interests and talents, he graduated in 1903 with first honors not only in dance but also in music, painting, and literature. From 1904-1909, he partnered the great ballerinas of the Maryinsky, including Anna Pavlova and Tamara Karsavina. Beginning in 1908, he put together a small troupe and toured to Stockholm, Copenhagen, and later Berlin. He also joined Serge Diaghilev's Ballets Russes in its Paris premiere in 1909, creating a stir with his performance of the leading part in Polovtsian Dances. Leaving Russia for good in 1911, he danced for Diaghilev's company until the conclusion of its last American tour in 1917, creating roles such as Dorkon in Daphnis and Chloe, the Moor in Petrouchka, and Prince Ivan in Firebird. He settled in the United States, first working for two seasons as the co-maitre de ballet with Rosina Galli at the Metropolitan Opera. He formed a touring company called Ballet Intime, which in its first season included the Japanese dancer, Michio Ito. The company existed in some form until 1928, its last tour including Agnes de Mille as guest artist. In 1920 he joined the Chicago Opera as choreographer. There he created what many consider the first purely American ballet, Birthday of the Infanta, featuring Ruth Page. In 1923, he opened a school in Chicago, sharing the teaching with two colleagues from the St. Petersburg School. He remained in Chicago until 1930 when he moved to San Francisco to work with the opera there. In his insistence that the San Francisco Opera Association create a school under its auspices and by giving the first all-ballet evenings, Bolm essentially created the San Francisco Ballet. For that troupe he created his Bach Cycle and staged El Amor Brujo, and his last choreography Mephisto. In 1935, he moved to Hollywood, where he worked as a teacher and choreographer in film and concerts. Between 1940 and 1942, he appeared with Ballet Theatre, recreating his roles form Diaghilev's company, including Pierrot in Carnaval and the Blackamoor in Petrouchka. He died in his Hollywood home at age 66, April 16, 1951.

From the guide to the Adolph Bolm collection, circa 1922-1983, (The New York Public Library. Jerome Robbins Dance Division.)