Remembering Helen Tamiris

Abstract

In March of 1936, when I was still known as Pauline Bubrick, I joined the Dance Project of the WPA's Federal Theatre Project and was assigned to the group directed by Helen Tamiris. I had been a student of Martha Graham since I had turned up at her studio the day after I first saw her perform in 1934, but in the depths of the Depression a paying job as a concert dancer was not easy to find-while bills had to be paid and food put on the table. Thus it was that I had the opportunity to work for more than three years with one of the remarkable women of American dance, and one whose full contribution has yet to be acknowledged. Although Graham remains my greatest inspiration, my regard for Tamiris has grown immeasurably through the years. Helen Tamiris was born Helen Becker in New York City on April 23, 1902, into a poor but cultured family whose social values were to be a dominant influence on her life as a dancer and choreographer. Recognizing her enthusiasm for dance, the family registered her for classes in Duncan-inspired movement at the Henry Street Settlement, located in her neighborhood on the Lower East Side of New York City. Tamiris went on to study Italian ballet at the Metropolitan Opera, where she became a member of the corps de ballet, and Russian ballet at Fokine's studio. Her training was as intensive as her per-