Movement from the heart - Hilde Holger

“By the time she died in 2001 at the age of 95, Hilde Holger had transformed modern dance, first as a pioneering Central European Expressionist dancer and choreographer in Vienna, later as a celebrated dance teacher in Bombay and England. In her view, a successful dancer must combine technique with heart, imagination and humanity. Her vision of dance was one of total theatre, embracing radical design and movement.
Born in 1905, Hilde started dancing lessons at the age of six. Ten years later she was touring Europe with the legendary troupe founded by her mentor Gertrude Bodenweiser. In 1926 Holger founded her own school of dance , The New School for Movement Arts. As a Jew, she was forbidden to work after the Nazis took over Austria in 1938. A year later she escaped at a day’s notice, finding refuge in India. Fourteen members of her family later died in the Holocaust...
When her son Darius was born with Down syndrome, she strongly felt that he should be given the gift of expression in the arts like any other average child. Thus inspired by Darius, Hilde developed a form of expressive movement dance therapy for the mentally disabled, remaining true to her conviction that anyone could benefit from dance instruction, even those who would never become professional dancers...”

MOVEMENT FROM THE HEART is written by Leslie Alan Horvitz with the help of Primavera Boman (Hilde’s daughter) It includes more about Hilde’s work and philosophy and some archive images.
Further information on Hilde Holger and the work of Primavera Boman can be found at www.hildeholger.com.