Anna Sokolow

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Anna Sokolow (born February 9, 1910, Hartford, Connecticut; died March 29, 2000 in New York City, New York) was a Jewish American dancer and choreographer. She began her dance training with Martha Graham and Louis Horst at the Neighborhood Playhouse. In the 1930s, while a member of the Graham Company and assistant to Horst's dance composition classes, Sokolow formed her own dance company, the Dance Unit. She was associated with the socially conscious collective the New Dance Group and the larger Workers Dance League. Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, she performed and choreographed both solo and ensemble works, which tackled subject matter that included the exploitation of workers and growing troubles of Jews in Germany.

In 1939, Sokolow began a life-long association with the dance in Mexico and Israel. Her work for the Mexican Ministry of Fine Arts facilitated the establishment of the National Academy of Dance. In Israel, she choreographed for major dance companies, including Batsheva, Inbal, and the Lyric Theatre.

Sokolow created works full of dramatic contemporary imagery, revealing the full spectrum of human experience and reflecting the tension and alienation of her time. Rooms (1955) dealt with urban alienation, while Dreams (1961) grew from the horrors of the Holocaust. Other major modern dance works included Lyric Suite (1954), Odes (1965), and Opus 65 (1965). The Players Project continues to present her work.

Anna Sokolow's repertory is currently performed by the Sokolow Theatre Dance Ensemble under the direction of her protege, Jim May.

[edit] Works for Broadway

Noah (1935) - play with music by Louis Horst - co-choreographer
Sing for Your Supper (1939) - revue - co-choreographer
Street Scene (1947) - musical - choreographer
The Great Campaign (1947) - play - choreographer
Sleepy Hollow (1948) - musical - choreographer
Regina (1949) - opera - choreographer
Happy as Larry (1950) - musical - choreographer
Camino Real (1953) - play - directing assistant
Red Roses for Me (1955) - play - choreographer - Tony Nomination for Best Choreography
Candide (1956) - operetta - choreographer
Copper and Brass (1957) - musical - choreographer
Clothes for a Summer Hotel (1980) - dance consultant