Harriet Lundgren (1907, Chicago - 1996) was

prima ballerina A ballet dancer ( it, ballerina fem.; ''ballerino'' masc.) is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet; however, dancers have a strict hierarchy and strict gender roles. They rely on yea ...

for the

Chicago Civic Opera The Civic Opera Company (1922–1931) was a Chicago company that produced seven seasons of grand opera in the Auditorium Theatre from 1922 to 1928, and three seasons at its own Civic Opera House from 1929 to 1931 before falling victim to financia ...

Company from 1922 until 1932. She was also a ballet teacher. As a teenager, she trained with several prominent ballet companies, including the Hazel Wallack Studio, the Pavley-Oukrainsky Ballet, and the Adolph Bolm Company. In 1925, she was in the production of ''The Legend of the Nile''. While dancing with the Civic Opera, she also toured extensively in Europe. She toured in production called ''A Bird Fantasy'' in 1926, including at the Palace Theatre in

Dallas, Texas Dallas () is the third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 million people. It is the largest city in and seat of Dallas County w ...

and in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

's Newman Theater. She made an appearance as a bird of paradise in the final number of the silent film ''

A Social Celebrity ''A Social Celebrity'' is a 1926 American silent comedy drama film directed by Malcolm St. Clair and starred Louise Brooks as a small town manicurist who goes to New York City with her boyfriend (Adolphe Menjou), a barber who poses as a French ...

'' (1926) with Vivian Gonchar, with whom she had toured. In 1936, she was announced as the principal dancer with the new

Coe Glade Coe Glade (August 12, 1900 – September 23, 1985) was an American opera singer. She was born in Chicago. She was a mezzo-soprano. She sang in the opening program at Radio City Music Hall in 1932 and at the Hiram Walker Canadian Club at the Ch ...

touring company. Lundgren was one of the principal dancers in the Outdoor Opera of

Soldier Field Soldier Field is a multi-purpose stadium on the Near South Side of Chicago, Illinois, United States. Opened in 1924 and reconstructed in 2003, the stadium has served as the home of the Chicago Bears of the National Football League (NFL) since 1 ...

productions of ''

Aida ''Aida'' (or ''Aïda'', ) is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni. Set in the Old Kingdom of Egypt, it was commissioned by Cairo's Khedivial Opera House and had its première there on 24 December ...

'' and ''Il Trovatore'' in Chicago in 1936. After her tenure at the opera, Lundgren taught

Russian Russian(s) refers to anything related to Russia, including: *Russians (, ''russkiye''), an ethnic group of the East Slavic peoples, primarily living in Russia and neighboring countries *Rossiyane (), Russian language term for all citizens and peo ...

and

Italian ballet Italian ballet is the training methods and aesthetic qualities seen in classical ballet in Italy. Ballet has a long history in Italy, and it is widely believed that the earliest predecessor of modern-day ballet originated in the Italian courts of ...

at the

Bush Conservatory The Bush Temple Conservatory of Music and Dramatic Art was an American conservatory of music based in Chicago with branches in Dallas and Memphis. History The Conservatory was founded in 1901 by William Lincoln Bush (1861–1941), of the Chicago ...

, eventually opening her own school in the Edgewater Beach Apartments, which remained open until the 1960s. She died in 1996.

Personal life

In 1928, it was announced that she was engaged to Chase Boromeo, who was also employed by the Chicago Civic Opera."Coming marriages". ''

The Billboard The Billboard () is a massive granite monolith in the Sarnoff Mountains of the Ford Ranges of Marie Byrd Land, West Antarctica, standing just west of Mount Rea between Arthur Glacier and Boyd Glacier. It was discovered in November 1934 by a Secon ...

''. Cincinnati. Vol. 40, Iss. 13, (Mar 31, 1928): 87. Via Proquest.

References

External links

Harriet Lundgren Papers
at

Newberry Library The Newberry Library is an independent research library, specializing in the humanities and located on Washington Square in Chicago, Illinois. It has been free and open to the public since 1887. Its collections encompass a variety of topics rela ...

People from Chicago 1907 births 1996 deaths American ballerinas 20th-century American women 20th-century American ballet dancers {{Illinois-bio-stub