Hanya Holm (born Johanna Eckert; 1893-1992) successfully moved from Germany to America, from modern dance to the Broadway musical in a unique rise to prominence.

Hanya Holm was born Johanna Eckert on March 3, 1893, in Worms, a small town near Frankfurt am Main in Germany. She spent her first 12 years of schooling at a Catholic convent. In those years she learned respect for knowledge and creative ability, a belief in perfectionism and discipline. At the age of 10 she studied piano, and after graduation from the convent she attended the famous music-oriented Dalcroze Institute.

Seeing a dance recital of Mary Wigman in 1921 became decisive for her life. She immediately joined Wigman's company and soon advanced to the position of chief instructor and co-director of the Mary Wigman Central Institute in Dresden. During the 1920s Holm danced many parts in Wigman's company, culminating in Das Totenmal (Death Monument) in 1930.

Holm was...