Waldeen Falkenstein

Waldeen (von) Falkenstein[1] Brooke de Zatz[2] better known as "Waldeen" (February 1, 1913 – August 18, 1993) was an American-born dancer and choreographer. Together with Anna Sokolow, Alicia Markova, Anton Dolin and Michel Descombey, she belongs to the great precursors of modern Mexican dance.[3]

Waldeen Falkenstein
Waldeen Falkenstein, from a 1933 publication
Born(1913-02-01)February 1, 1913
Dallas, United States
DiedAugust 18, 1993(1993-08-18) (aged 80)
Cuernavaca, Mexico
AwardsJosé Limón Award (1988)

Biography

Waldeen was born in Dallas and joined the Japanese choreographer Seki Sano when he moved to Mexico. She taught and performed in Los Angeles in the early 1930s.[4] She returned to Mexico with the dancer Winifred Widener to Mexico City in 1939, where they danced at the theater of fine arts (Spanish: Teatro de Bellas Artes). She was ordered to establish the Ballet de Bellas Artes, the ballet group of the theater, which she led until it was dissolved in 1947. At this time she had also an affair with Bodo Uhse and lived together with him, before he married Alma Agee.[5]

Waldeen married Rodolfo Valencia, a theater director, and was invited by the revolutionary government of Cuba, where she stood from 1962 to 1965. In 1966 she established a further ballet company, known as the "Waldeen Ballet". Notable dancers of the company were Guillermina Bravo and Ana Mérida.[6][7]

In 1988, she received the inaugural José Limón National Dance Award.[8]

She died in Cuernavaca.

References
  1. also findable under Falkestein
  2. Waldeen, 1913, 1993 (French), Bibliothèque de la danse de l'ESBCM.
  3. 25th Biennial Conference of ICKL.
  4. Who's who in music and dance in Southern California. University of California Libraries. Hollywood : Bureau of Musical Research. 1933. pp. 190.CS1 maint: others (link)
  5. Kristin Silcher. Bodo Uhse: Sonntagsträumerei in der Alameda (German), Berlin, 1961.
  6. Von Falkestein, Waldeen
  7. Waldeen, Dirreción de Danza UNAM, Mexico City.
  8. "Este domingo, el 28º Premio Nacional de Danza José Limón a Cecilia Appleton" [This Sunday, the 25th José Limón National Dance Award to Cecilia Appleton] (in Spanish). Culiacán: Instituto Sinaloense de Cultura. April 11, 2015. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
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