{{Short description|American ballerina (1914–1998)}} {{Use American English|date=March 2020}} {{Use mdy dates|date=March 2020}} {{Infobox dancer | name =Gisella Caccialanza | birth_date = {{birth date|1914|09|17}} | birth_place =San Diego, California, United States | death_date = {{death date and age|1998|07|16|1914|09|17}} | death_place =Daly City, California, United States | occupation =ballerina | years_active =1928–1953 | spouse ={{marriage|Lew Christensen|1941|1984|end=his death}} | children =1 | dances =ballet }} '''Gisella Caccialanza''' (September 17, 1914 – July 16, 1998) was an American prima ballerina and teacher who danced in theater, opera and film productions. She studied ballet under Italian teacher Giovanni Rosi, and then with the great ballet teacher Enrico Cecchetti at La Scala in Milan, Italy. Caccialanza danced with Viennese choreographer Albertina Rasch, the School of American Ballet, the New Opera Company, and the San Francisco Ballet, with which she later taught and coached.
==Biography== Caccialanza was born to Italian American parents in San Diego on September 17, 1914.<ref name="EBEntry">{{cite encyclopedia|title=Gisella Caccialanza|url=https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gisella-Caccialanza|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|accessdate=March 6, 2020|url-status=live|date=|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20190730110928/https://www.britannica.com/biography/Gisella-Caccialanza|archivedate=July 30, 2019}}</ref><ref name=LATimesDeath>{{cite news|last=Oliver|first=Myrna|title=Gisella Caccialanza Christensen; Prima Ballerina|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jul-21-mn-5755-story.html|work=Los Angeles Times|date=July 21, 1998|accessdate=March 6, 2020|url-status=live|archive-date=December 13, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213080857/https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1998-jul-21-mn-5755-story.html}}</ref><ref name="EncyComEntry" /> She studied ballet under the tutelage of Italian teacher Giovanni Rosi, who recommended that she venture to Milan, Italy and continue her studies there.<ref name="NYTObit">{{cite news|last=Anderson|first=Jack|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/20/arts/gisella-caccialanza-ballerina-in-balanchine-s-company-83.html|title=Gisella Caccialanza, Ballerina In Balanchine's Company, 83|date=July 20, 1998|work=The New York Times|accessdate=March 6, 2020|url-status=live|page=A13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180203174357/http://www.nytimes.com/1998/07/20/arts/gisella-caccialanza-ballerina-in-balanchine-s-company-83.html|archive-date=February 3, 2018}}</ref> In 1925, Caccialanza was taken to La Scala to receive advanced training in ballet.<ref name="NYTObit" /><ref name="BookEntry" /> During her three-year studying period at the opera house, she won a bronze, silver and gold medal during her final examinations at the end of the year.<ref name="BookEntry" /> Caccialanza earned the awareness of the great ballet teacher Enrico Cecchetti, and he spent his final years improving her ability;<ref name="BookEntry">{{cite book|last=Hickenlooper Sowell|first=Debra|title=Christensen Brothers: An American Dance Epic|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r-1RAwAAQBAJ&q=Gisella+Caccialanza&pg=PA120|date=2014|publisher=Routledge|location=London, England|isbn=978-1-134-42254-8|pages=117–120 & 219–221|accessdate=March 6, 2020|url-status=live|archive-date=November 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103205545/https://books.google.com/books?id=r-1RAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA120&dq=Gisella+Caccialanza#q=Gisella%20Caccialanza}}</ref> he made her his goddaughter at her confirmation ceremony,<ref name="NYTObit" /> after he was granted permission for it by the Pope.<ref name="BookEntry" />
In 1928, Caccialanza returned to the United States.<ref name="NYTObit" /> She was encouraged by Cecchetti to follow his routines, rather than certain American teachers whom he considered incompetent.<ref name="BookEntry" /> Caccialanza worked with Viennese choreographer in ballet, musicals and vaudeville Albertina Rasch,<ref name="NYTObit" /> on a three-year contract.<ref name="BookEntry" /> She toured the United States in Rasch's dance troupes.<ref name=EncyComEntry>{{cite encyclopedia|title=Caccialanza, Gisella (1914–1998)|url=https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/caccialanza-gisella-1914-1998|encyclopedia=Dictionary of Women Worldwide: 25,000 Women Through the Ages|accessdate=March 6, 2020|via=Encyclopedia.com|url-status=live|date=|archive-date=November 3, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103205523/https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/caccialanza-gisella-1914-1998}}</ref> This included performances in vaudeville houses, in motion picture prologues, the Grauman's Chinese Theatre and Radio City Music Hall. Caccialanza performed five times a day at Radio City Music Hall, and ballet dancer Serge Lifar persuaded her to audition for a new school run by George Balanchine.<ref name="BookEntry" />
She immediately earned a scholarship to the School of American Ballet, and impressed the faculty with the training she had received from Cecchetti.<ref name="BookEntry" /> Caccialanza became a charter member of the company in 1934, and performed in the major cities of the United States.<ref name="LATimesDeath" /> She performed under Balanchine in the ballets ''Serenade'' in 1934, ''Le baiser de la fée'' in 1937,<ref name="EncyComEntry" /> the second ballerina in the premiere of ''Ballet Imperial'' in 1941 under the employ of the New Opera Company,<ref name="NYTObit" /><ref name="BookEntry" /> the lead dancer in the full-length American premiere of ''The Nutcracker'' with the San Francisco Ballet at the San Francisco Opera House in 1944,<ref name="LATimesDeath" /><ref name="VarietyObit">{{cite news|title=Gisella Caccialanza Christensen|url=https://variety.com/1998/scene/people-news/gisella-caccialanza-christensen-1117882420/|work=Variety|date=July 29, 1998|accessdate=March 6, 2020|url-status=live|archiveurl=https://archive.today/20201213081024/https://variety.com/1998/scene/people-news/gisella-caccialanza-christensen-1117882420/|archivedate=December 13, 2020}}</ref> and ''The Four Temperaments'' in 1946.<ref name="EncyComEntry" /> Caccialanza also danced in the musical films ''The Goldwyn Follies'' in 1938, and ''On Your Toes'' the following year with choreography undertaken by Balanchine.<ref name="LATimesDeath" /><ref name="NYTObit" /> When the ballet did not perform, she appeared with the touring group Ballet Caravan,<ref name="NYTObit" /> and danced in the premieres of ''Harlequin for President'', ''Promenade,'' and ''The Soldier and the Gypsy'' in 1936,<ref name="EncyComEntry" /> and at Los Angeles' Philharmonic Auditorium.<ref name="LATimesDeath" />
In 1941, the American Ballet and Ballet Caravan had worked together in a tour of Latin America,<ref name="NYTObit" /> and Caccialanza danced a ''pas de deux'' at the New York headquarters of the United Service Organizations, and spoke at a rally to encourage scrap metal collecting.<ref name="BookEntry" /> She was offered a role of Laurey in ''Oklahoma!'' for the Theatre Guild's road company in New Haven in October 1943, which she turned down to honor a prior partnership.<ref name="BookEntry" /> Caccialanza later joined the Ballet Society, and danced with the San Francisco Ballet until the birth of her son in 1953.<ref name="NYTObit" /> She later taught and coached at the school.<ref name="EncyComEntry" /><ref name="NYTObit" /> A collection of Caccialanza's correspondence with Cecchetti was published as ''Letters From the Maestro'' in 1971.<ref name="LATimesDeath" /><ref name="NYTObit" />
== Personal life ==
She was married to American choreographer Lew Christensen from 1941 until his death in 1984.<ref name="EncyComEntry" /> Their son Chris went on to be a conductor.<ref name="NYTObit" />
Caccialanza died at Seton Medical Center, Daly City on July 16, 1998,<ref name="EBEntry" /><ref name="VarietyObit" /> after a series of strokes.<ref name="VarietyObit" />
==Legacy== ''Variety'' magazine called her "a premier ballerina of the 1930s",<ref name="VarietyObit" /> and ''The New York Times'' referred to her as "a major American ballerina".<ref name="NYTObit" /> The Dance, Music, Recorded Sound, and Theatre Divisions of the New York Public Library holds a collection of letters and manuscripts relating to her life from 1926 to 1972.<ref name="NYPGisella">{{cite web|url=http://archives.nypl.org/uploads/collection/generated_finding_aids/dan19630.pdf|title=Gisella Caccialanza collection: 1926–1972|publisher=New York Public Library|url-status=live|archive-url=|archive-date=|accessdate=March 6, 2020|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20201103205509/http://archives.nypl.org/uploads/collection/generated_finding_aids/dan19630.pdf|archivedate=November 3, 2020}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist|30em}}
==External links== * {{IBDB name|gisella-caccialanza-34193}}
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Caccialanza, Gisella}} Category:1914 births Category:1998 deaths Category:American people of Italian descent Category:People from San Diego Category:School of American Ballet alumni Category:20th-century American educators Category:20th-century American women educators Category:American prima ballerinas Category:American ballet teachers Category:San Francisco Ballet dancers Category:20th-century American ballet dancers