12 Facts About Elise Reiman

Olga Elise Reiman was an American ballet dancer and dance educator.

Elise Reiman later studied under Adolph Bolm in San Francisco.

In 1934, Elise Reiman started attending classes at the School of American Ballet in New York, co-founded by choreographer George Balanchine, during the school's second term.

Elise Reiman began her career working with Bolm, and created roles in his ballets Apollon Musagete, as Calliope, and Mechanical Ballet.

Elise Reiman created a role in the first ballet Balanchine choreographed in the United States, Serenade, followed by Reminiscence, Transcendance and Alma Mater, the latter performed on Broadway.

In 1937, Elise Reiman danced in the first revival of Balanchine's Apollo as Terpsichore.

In 1945, Elise Reiman was recruited to teach junior students at the School of American Ballet, and became the first alumna to teach at the school.

In 1946, Elise Reiman joined the Ballet Society, co-founded by Balanchine and Kirstein, after the former's return to New York.

Elise Reiman left the School of American Ballet in 1953, but returned in 1964, after her husband's sudden death and at Balanchine's invitation.

Elise Reiman continued teaching at the school until her death in 1993.

Elise Reiman understood his passion for the classical principles he learned at the Imperial Ballet School in St Petersburg and brought to this country.

Elise Reiman married Charles Varner Hotchkiss in 1951; he died in 1963.