Marmein Dancers
Encyclopedia
The Marmein Dancers was an American vaudeville act and early proponent of avant garde dance performed by the sisters Irene, Miriam and Phyllis Marmein.
around 1912. The sister joined the vaudeville Orpheum circuit during the 1916-17 season, performing in venues throughout West from Texas to the Canadian Plains and westward along the Pacific Coast. In the early years they would perform such dances as the Dance of the Gladiators to jazz and classical music provided by the Tennessee Ten Orchestra and later pianist David Schooler, a one time child prodigy
and future concert pianist and music director
. An advertisement from that period billed their interpretive style dance and ballet pantomime called Production Classique, as ‘A Musical and Dancical Collaboration’ that was later wisely changed to ‘A Revelation of Dance and Music’. The sisters would later perform with the New York Symphony Orchestra
under the baton of Walter Damrosch and other renowned orchestras of the time, including the New York Philharmonic
.
The Marmein sisters continued to perform together well into the early 1930s until the sisters branched out to pursue separate careers. All three went on to dance, lecture, choreograph and teach.
. Irene settled in Schenectady, New York in the mid 1930s, where she directed numerous productions for the Schenectady Civic Players and the Schenectady Opera Company. She was also instrumental in establishing drama programs in nineteen state schools on behalf of the American Foundation of the Blind. Irene Marmein passed away after a prolonged illness on September 9, 1972 at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady.
Henry and Anna
The Marmein Dancers were the daughters of Henry J. “Happy Jack” Marmein (1862-1930), a Chicago area real estate broker who later became an owner of the Gold Bug Mining Company of Arizona and Anna Engleton (1877-1949), in later years a well known lecturer and teacher of philosophy drama, art, music and language.The Marmein Dancers
Irene and Miriam may have started performing at an early age with the help of Maurice Brown, an English theatrical producer who founded the Chicago Little TheatreLittle Theatre Movement
As the new medium of cinema was beginning to replace theatre as a source of large-scale spectacle, the Little Theatre Movement developed in the United States around 1912...
around 1912. The sister joined the vaudeville Orpheum circuit during the 1916-17 season, performing in venues throughout West from Texas to the Canadian Plains and westward along the Pacific Coast. In the early years they would perform such dances as the Dance of the Gladiators to jazz and classical music provided by the Tennessee Ten Orchestra and later pianist David Schooler, a one time child prodigy
Child prodigy
A child prodigy is someone who, at an early age, masters one or more skills far beyond his or her level of maturity. One criterion for classifying prodigies is: a prodigy is a child, typically younger than 18 years old, who is performing at the level of a highly trained adult in a very demanding...
and future concert pianist and music director
Music director
A music director may be the director of an orchestra, the director of music for a film, the director of music at a radio station, the head of the music department in a school, the co-ordinator of the musical ensembles in a university or college , the head bandmaster of a military band, the head...
. An advertisement from that period billed their interpretive style dance and ballet pantomime called Production Classique, as ‘A Musical and Dancical Collaboration’ that was later wisely changed to ‘A Revelation of Dance and Music’. The sisters would later perform with the New York Symphony Orchestra
New York Symphony Orchestra
The New York Symphony Orchestra was founded as the New York Symphony Society in New York City by Leopold Damrosch in 1878. For many years it was a fierce rival to the older Philharmonic Symphony Society of New York. It was supported by Andrew Carnegie who built Carnegie Hall expressly for the...
under the baton of Walter Damrosch and other renowned orchestras of the time, including the New York Philharmonic
New York Philharmonic
The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
.
The Marmein sisters continued to perform together well into the early 1930s until the sisters branched out to pursue separate careers. All three went on to dance, lecture, choreograph and teach.
Irene Marmein
Irene, the eldest, was born on February 4, 1894 at Peoria, Illinois. At the age of fifteen she became the first schoolgirl to recite the Declaration of Independence during the annual Fourth of July celebration held at Boston’s Faneuil HallFaneuil Hall
Faneuil Hall , located near the waterfront and today's Government Center, in Boston, Massachusetts, has been a marketplace and a meeting hall since 1742. It was the site of several speeches by Samuel Adams, James Otis, and others encouraging independence from Great Britain, and is now part of...
. Irene settled in Schenectady, New York in the mid 1930s, where she directed numerous productions for the Schenectady Civic Players and the Schenectady Opera Company. She was also instrumental in establishing drama programs in nineteen state schools on behalf of the American Foundation of the Blind. Irene Marmein passed away after a prolonged illness on September 9, 1972 at Ellis Hospital in Schenectady.