Helen Lewis (choreographer)

Helen Lewis MBE (née Katz, 22 June 1916 – 31 December 2009) was a pioneer of modern dance in Northern Ireland, and made her name as a dance teacher and choreographer. A survivor of the Holocaust, she was also known for her memoir of her experiences during the Second World War.

For the English journalist, see Helen Lewis (journalist).

Helen Lewis
Born
Helena Katz

22 June 1916[1]
Trutnov, Kingdom of Bohemia
(now the Czech Republic)
Died31 December 2009(2009-12-31) (aged 93)
Belfast, Northern Ireland
Other namesHelena Hermann
Occupationdance teacher, choreographer
Known forA Time to Speak, autobiography
Spouse(s)Paul Hermann (1938–1945; his death)
Harry Lewis (1947–1991; his death)
ChildrenTwo sons:
Michael Lewis
Robin Lewis

Early life

Helena Katz was born in 1916 into a German-speaking Jewish family in Trutnov in the Kingdom of Bohemia (which later became Czechoslovakia, and is now the Czech Republic). After she completed study at the Realgymnasium of Trutnov in 1935, she and her mother moved to Prague; her father had died in the previous year.[2] There she studied dance with Milča Mayerová, who had trained with Rudolf Laban. Katz also studied philosophy at the German University of Prague, and took private lessons in French. In about 1936 she met Paul Hermann, a Czech from a Jewish family, and in 1938, after she had finished her dance training and her university exams, they were married. She taught as an assistant at Mayerová's dance school, and experimented with choreography.[2]

War years

Following the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1939, deportations of Jewish families began in August 1941. The Hermanns were sent in 1942 to Terezín; in 1944 they were transferred to Auschwitz and separated. Paul Hermann died in 1945 on a forced march, not long before the end of the Second World War.[2] Helen, who survived two "selections" by Josef Mengele,[3] was later sent to Stutthof concentration camp in northern Poland.[4]

When the war ended, she returned to Prague, where she learnt of her husband's death; her mother, who had been deported early in 1942,[2] had died at Sobibór extermination camp.[4] Helen began to correspond with Harry Lewis, a Czech with British nationality whom she had known at school and with whom she had had a brief romance before she met Hermann.[2] She married Lewis in Prague in the summer of 1947[5] and in October moved to Belfast.

Belfast

After the birth of her two sons, Michael and Robin, in 1949 and 1954,[2] Lewis began to work as a choreographer.[4] In 1956, she created the choreography for the productions The Bartered Bride of Smetana at Grosvenor High School in Belfast, for a performance of Dvořák's The Golden Spinning Wheel at the Belfast Ballet Club, and for a Macbeth at the Lyric Theatre, Belfast.[4] Lewis also taught modern dance, and in 1962 started the Belfast Modern Dance Group.[4]

Her book A Time to Speak, about her experiences before and during the war, was published in 1992[6] and was translated into several languages.[5] It was adapted for the theatre by Sam McCready and performed at the Lyric Theatre during the Belfast Festival in 2009.[7] It was also performed at Exeter Synagogue in 2010.[8]

She died at her home in Belfast on 31 December 2009, aged 93.[9][10]

A dance studio at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast is named after her.[11]

Awards

In the 2001 Birthday Honours, Helen Lewis was appointed MBE for her services to contemporary dance.[12] She was awarded honorary doctorates by Queen's University, Belfast and by Ulster University.[4]

References
  1. "Obituary: Helen Lewis". The Daily Telegraph. London. 15 January 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  2. Lewis, Helen (2002). An Irish Epilogue. Irish Pages 1 (1): 25–30. (subscription required)
  3. Henry, Lesley-Anne (2 January 2010). "Survivor of Auschwitz death camp Helen Lewis dies at 93". Belfast Telegraph. Retrieved 7 January 2016.
  4. Johnston, Philip (17 March 2010). "Helen Lewis obituary". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  5. "Helen Lewis, 1916–2009". Culture Northern Ireland. January 2010. Retrieved 20 February 2016.
  6. Lewis, Helen (1992). A Time To Speak. Belfast: Blackstaff Press. ISBN 978-0-8564-0491-7.
  7. Coyle, Jane (8 September 2009). "Belfast Festival: A Time To Speak". Performing Arts. Culture Northern Ireland. Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  8. Lawrence, Danny (13 April 2010). "Exeter Synagogue stages Holocaust survival story". BBC News. Retrieved 27 May 2016.
  9. Coyle, Jane (11 January 2010). "Helen Lewis". The Stage. Retrieved 10 April 2016.
  10. "Belfast Auschwitz survivor Helen Lewis dies aged 93". BBC News. 1 January 2010. Retrieved 23 January 2013.
  11. "Helen Lewis Dance Studio". Room hire. Crescent Arts Centre. Archived from the original on 9 August 2016. Retrieved 15 September 2016.
  12. "Knighthood for 'golden' flautist (Northern Ireland's Queen's birthday honours list)". BBC News. 16 June 2011. Retrieved 23 January 2013.

Further reading
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