Sandra Severo
Maryann Sandra Severo (née Smolińska; August 10 1911 – March 30 1991) was a Polish-American dancer and founder of the 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 the Polish language exclusively, which resulted in the adoption of the 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 an 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 years 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 allow her to attend ballet lessons. He only agreed to a compromise and the purchase of a 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 by signing with The Bonstelle Theatre ballet school. It was a late start for an ambitious woman who wanted to shine as a 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. A key moment in her career was a trip to Massachusetts in 1941 to take lessons at 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 for the promotion of ballet arts in the region.[6] Sandra’s teaching methods were very strict but effective. She was known for her 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 the 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]
The pupils of Sandra Severo conquered the stages and hearts of spectators around the world. Barbara Remington was performing in the Royal Ballet (London), Beverly Barsanti and others performed in the American Ballet Theater, Eugenia Paul and Rima Erickson worked in Hollywood, Grant Delaney and Margery Beddow performed in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and on 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 a choreographer. She was the creator of dance routines for "Concerto", "Portrait of the ball" and "Serenade". She also cooperated with the Laur Dancing Society and the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. For two decades, her studio, together with the Detroit Symphony, was in charge of the local "The Nutcracker" performance. Amongst the community of Detroit, such performances were an intrinsic element of Christmas and local tradition. Nevertheless, her studio started to struggle financially. They didn’t have the money for performance production and wages for musicians and dancers. Severo complained about a 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, the school closed in 1962.
She was awarded the Humanitarian Medallion of the Presidents Cabinet (UDM) and the title of "Most Exciting Woman in Detroit".[3]
Death and legacy
For many years she lived in the cultural center of Detroit, near the Public Library and the 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 the 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. Search this book on
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Whittaker, Jeanne (May 27, 1973). "Tough and talented". Detroit Free Press. p. 48.
- ↑ Wytrwal, Joseph Anthony (1992). The polish experience in Detroit. p. 388. Search this book on
- ↑ Wytrwal, Joseph Anthony (1992). The polish experience in Detroit. p. 389. Search this book on
- ↑ "Tea to Boost Severo Ballet". Grosse Pointe News. 22 (42). October 19, 1961. p. 15.
- ↑ Warren, Robert (2004). "Dancing Days".
- ↑ Callaghan, Dorsey (June 28, 1959). "The ballet queen". Detroit Free Press. p. 21.
- ↑ Abatt, Corinne (November 27, 1978). "Severo's ballet classic marks change". Canton Observer. 4 (29). pp. 6B.
This article "Sandra Severo" is from Wikipedia. The list of its authors can be seen in its historical and/or the page Edithistory:Sandra Severo. Articles copied from Draft Namespace on Wikipedia could be seen on the Draft Namespace of Wikipedia and not main one.
