Trudl Dubsky Zipper (31 January 1913 – 3 July 1976), born Gertruda Dubsky, was an Austrian-American innovative dancer, choreographer and teacher.

Early life and education

Gertruda Rosa Josefine Dubsky was born 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 ...

, the daughter of Wilhelm Josef Dubsky and Maria Theresia Dubsky. She trained and performed with the Bodenwieser School and was renowned for her dynamic modern dancing and high leaps.

Career

In 1932, with fellow Bodenwieser student Jeanette Rutherston, Dubsky co-founded the Rutherston-Dubsky School in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. She moved to the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

in 1937, to dance and teach. She founded the Manila Ballet Moderne during her time there. Dubsky was also an accomplished visual artist and her paintings of

Manila Manila ( , ; fil, Maynila, ), officially the City of Manila ( fil, Lungsod ng Maynila, ), is the capital of the Philippines, and its second-most populous city. It is highly urbanized and, as of 2019, was the world's most densely populate ...

during the Japanese occupation were published in ''

Life Life is a quality that distinguishes matter that has biological processes, such as Cell signaling, signaling and self-sustaining processes, from that which does not, and is defined by the capacity for Cell growth, growth, reaction to Stimu ...

'' magazine. Her husband later published a book of her watercolor paintings, ''Manila 1944-1945 As Trudl Saw It'' (1994), about those wartime experiences. They left the Philippines in 1946, but her husband returned several summers to conduct the

Manila Symphony Orchestra The Manila Symphony Orchestra (MSO) is one of the oldest orchestras in Asia. Founded by Alexander Lippay in 1926, the orchestra has played a major role in Philippine history, including acting as a symbol of resistance during the Second World War. ...

; in 1967 both Zippers were honored for their contributions to the arts in Manila. Trudl Dubsky and Herbert Zipper memorial plaque

Dubsky continued as a teacher and choreographer throughout her life, including at her studio in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, at

Erwin Piscator Erwin Friedrich Maximilian Piscator (17 December 1893 – 30 March 1966) was a German theatre director and producer. Along with Bertolt Brecht, he was the foremost exponent of epic theatre, a form that emphasizes the socio-political content o ...

's theatre workshop in New York, at the

Chicago Conservatory of Music The Music Conservatory was founded in 1867 as the Chicago Musical College, a conservatory. In 1954, the Chicago Musical College became part of Roosevelt University Roosevelt University is a private university with campuses in Chicago and Schau ...

, with the North Shore Dance Group, and later at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California S ...

Personal life and legacy

Dubsky married the Viennese pianist and composer Herbert Zipper, in the Philippines in 1939. She died from

lung cancer Lung cancer, also known as lung carcinoma (since about 98–99% of all lung cancers are carcinomas), is a malignant lung tumor characterized by uncontrolled cell growth in tissues of the lung. Lung carcinomas derive from transformed, malign ...

in Los Angeles in 1976, aged 63 years. The Dance Institute at the

Colburn School The Colburn School is a private music school in Los Angeles with a focus on music and dance. It consists of four divisions: the Conservatory of Music, Music Academy, Community School of Performing Arts and the Dance Academy. It is located adjac ...

was renamed the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute in 2008, after a large anonymous donation in her memory. The Herbert Zipper Archives at Crossroads School in

Santa Monica, California Santa Monica (; Spanish: ''Santa Mónica'') is a city in Los Angeles County, situated along Santa Monica Bay on California's South Coast. Santa Monica's 2020 U.S. Census population was 93,076. Santa Monica is a popular resort town, owing t ...

contain the couple's papers.

References

External links

Trudl Dubsky's bookplate
designed before 1937 by Arthur Paunzen; at MutualArt. {{DEFAULTSORT:Dubsky, Trudl Austrian female dancers Dancers from Vienna Women choreographers Dance teachers 1913 births 1976 deaths Modern dancers Austrian emigrants to the United States