Anny Boalth

From The Link, July 1934, p.6

The Link was the newsletter associated with the Association of the Teachers of the Revived Greek Dance, and the Ginner-Mawer School of Speech and Dramatic Art.  Although the Institute of Mime was not mentioned on the front cover in the same way that the other two organisations were, the magazine was, nevertheless, the conduit for news about the Institute of Mime, which had been founded by Irene Mawer a year or so previously.

On page 6 of this copy of The Link, we have an update on news from the Institute of Mime.  Along with information about results of the summer examination, lectures, and forthcoming summer schools, there is a note about the Annual Meeting.  This was held on Sunday, July 4, at Hotel Washington.

What might interest us most about the Annual Meeting is what happened immediately prior to the formal session – “…preceded by a most interesting class on ‘Some New Aspects of Dramatic Movement’ by Miss Anny Boalth of the Laban School.’  Unfortunately, that is all that we get told!  

A quick web search shows that Anny Boalth was an early advocate of Laban and his method.  She had been born in Denmark, and brought up in Germany, where she trained under Rudolf von Laban.

After emigrating to England in the 1930s, she taught movement for dancers and actors, using the pioneering Laban technique of discovering new ways to move and dance.

The Institute of Mime was very new at this point and it is fascinating that Mawer was including such an innovative attitude to movement.  This interest in new ideas was to be a regular occurrence, for example, we know that a few years later (1938), Michel Saint Denis was also invited to give a lecture-demonstration, showcasing his new way of approaching movement.  (Please see previous blog posts for further information.)

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