Zäzilie Wang (1 February 1909, Vienna — 10 July 2005, Vienna), stage name Cilli Wang, was an

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

n-born

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

dancer Dance is a performing art form consisting of sequences of movement, either improvised or purposefully selected. This movement has aesthetic and often symbolic value. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoi ...

performer The performing arts are The arts, arts such as music, dance, and drama which are performed for an audience. They are different from the visual arts, which are the use of paint, canvas or various materials to create physical or static art object ...

and theatre maker. Wang initially was known as a dancer and later as a

comedienne A comedian or comic is a person who seeks to entertain an audience by making them laugh. This might be through jokes or amusing situations, or acting foolish (as in slapstick), or employing prop comedy. A comedian who addresses an audience d ...

and

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. When Austria merged into the Greater German Reich, she fled to the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and asked for asylum. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

she played in several Dutch

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining or d ...

groups and made solo performances into the 1970s.

Life

Cilli Wang studied dance in

Vienna en, Viennese , iso_code = AT-9 , registration_plate = W , postal_code_type = Postal code , postal_code = , timezone = CET , utc_offset = +1 , timezone_DST ...

, she had previously been a student of

Gertrud Bodenwieser Gertrud Bodenwieser (3 February 1890 – 10 November 1959), also known as "Gertrude", was a dancer, choreographer, dance teacher and pioneer of expressive dance. Early life The daughter of Theodore and Maria Bondi, a wealthy Jewish couple, ...

.Vernon-Warren, B. and Warren, C. (Eds) (1999) Gertrud Bodenwieser and Vienna's Contribution to Ausdruckstanz. Routledge. , pg. 22 Her debut as a dancer came in 1929, where she danced for the nominations by Ernst Ceiss. In 1932 she married Austrian writer, poet and philosopher Hans Schlesinger, who wrote the solo play Harlekinade, where Wang played solo. In 1932 she went to Berlin and played for several cabaret groups, such as Werner Fincks Cabaret, The Blue Bird and Die Pfeffermühle by

Erika Mann Erika Julia Hedwig Mann (9 November 1905 – 27 August 1969) was a German actress and writer, daughter of the novelist Thomas Mann. Erika lived a bohemian lifestyle in Berlin and became a critic of National Socialism. After Hitler came to power ...

. In 1936 she joined her husband’s cabaret group Fröhliche Landtmann in Vienna. In 1938, Wang joined her husband in Sweden. During this tour

Anschluss The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a " Greater Germany ...

took place where Nazi Germany invaded Austria. Since both Wang and Hans Schlesinger were Jewish, they feared for their lives and fled to the Netherlands. In 1939 and 1940, Wang appeared in the ABC-cabaret of

Wim Kan Willem Cornelis "Wim" Kan (15 January 1911 – 8 September 1983) was a Dutch cabaret artist. Together with Toon Hermans and Wim Sonneveld, he is considered to be one of the Great Three of Dutch cabaret. In 1936, he established the ABC Cabar ...

and Corry Vonk, she also made guest appearances at Cabaret Mallemolen by Cor Ruys. Wang also did some solo performances in Amsterdam and Scheveningen and she starred in the revue. Wang created a large number of magical and absurd characters such as Max and Moritz, a Hague lady, a ballerina, a cleaner and a Tyrolean peasant woman. They used dance, mime, acting, clowning, music, text and acrobatics to put in the characters. In May 1940 the Netherlands was occupied by Nazi Germany and soon took on the occupants anti-Jewish measures. In 1941 she received a call for deportation to the labour camp, which was a Nazi euphemism for the extermination camp. Wang and her husband were suspicious of the call and looked for a safe hiding place. Cilli Wang Spoken, Bestanddeelnr 038-1050.jpg, Cilli Wang (1947) Cilli Wang het mondaine danspaar, Bestanddeelnr 038-1056.jpg, Dancing Cilli Wang Salon Giraf, Bestanddeelnr 038-1055.jpg, Salon Giraffe Cilli Wang de wrek, Bestanddeelnr 038-1062.jpg, Miser In April 1945 Hans Schlesinger succumbed to the effects of an exhausting life in hiding. Wang survived the war and returned to work. She performed in the Kurhaus Cabaret by Cor Ruys, acting in the ABC-cabaret of

and did her first solo dance project in 1946. For the first time there were no speeches, just the piano accompaniment of Wim de Vries. De Vries was her constant companion. They again played a number of characters and fourth over the triumphs of her shows. In 1952 she became a Dutch naturalized citizen. On January 25, 1959, Wang came to the United States and was presented in concert by Raymond D. Bowman at the Wilshire Ebell Theater in Los Angeles. She received outstanding reviews. She performed until 1971, when Wim de Vries retired and Wang would no longer perform. In 1975 she returned to her hometown of Vienna. She remained a Dutch citizen, though she did not blame the Austrian government for the murder of her entire family during the Nazi occupation. Since she felt at home in Vienna she lived there until her death on July 10, 2005.

References

Sources

* Hanny Alkema, “The Wonderful World of Cilli Wang”. Amsterdam: 1996 * Ger Van Leeuwen, "Determined to eternal life: The world of CIlli Wang in the Theatre Museum". In: ''Music and Dance” 9 (1981)
Cilli Wang
in the Jewish Women's Archive {{DEFAULTSORT:Wang, Cilli 1909 births 2005 deaths Austrian female dancers Dancers from Vienna Dutch female dancers Dutch dancers Austrian emigrants to the Netherlands