# Mimi Kagan

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{{Short description|American dancer, choreographer}}
{{use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Infobox person
| name               = Mimi Kagan
| image              = Mimi Kagan, in Watt solo.jpg
| caption            = Mimi Kagan, in Watt solo
| other_names        = Miriam Gabrilovna Odza,<br/>Miriam Odaz,<br/>Miriam Gabrilovna Kim,<br/>Mimi Kagan Kim
| birth_name         = Miriam Gabrilovna Kagan
| birth_date         = {{Birth date|1918|01|17}}
| birth_place        = Samara, Samara Oblast, [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire)
| death_date         = {{Death date and age|1999|02|22|1918|01|17}}
| death_place        = Oakland, California, U.S.
| resting_place      = [Mountain View Cemetery](/source/Mountain_View_Cemetery_(Oakland%2C_California))
| occupation         = Dancer, educator, writer, choreographer
| known_for          = Modern dance
| spouse             = Theodore Odza (1940–1958; divorce),<br/>[Earl Kim](/source/Earl_Kim) (1958–?; divorce)
| children           = 2
}}
'''Mimi Kagan''' (1918–1999; [née](/source/Birth_name) '''Miriam Gabrilovna Kagan''', and also known as '''Miriam Odza''', '''Mimi Kagan Kim''') was a [Russia-born American](/source/Russian_Americans) [modern dancer](/source/Modern_dance), [choreographer](/source/Choreography), educator and dance journalist. She was the founder of the avant-garde Mimi Kagan Dance Group and was active and influential in modern dance and choreography in [New York City](/source/New_York_City), the [San Francisco Bay Area](/source/San_Francisco_Bay_Area), [Princeton, New Jersey](/source/Princeton%2C_New_Jersey) and [Cambridge, Massachusetts](/source/Cambridge%2C_Massachusetts).

== Early life ==
Kagan was born in [Samara](/source/Samara) in the [Russian Empire](/source/Russian_Empire) and moved to the United States as a young child.<ref name="SFCTJ">{{Cite journal |date=1946 |title=Kagan |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gJYmAQAAIAAJ |journal=San Francisco Classroom Teachers Journal |volume=30 |page=13 |via=Google Books |number=1}}</ref> Her family was [Jewish](/source/History_of_the_Jews_in_Russia).<ref name="Wigman-2003">{{Cite book |last=Wigman |first=Mary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ewBzwXhz_hMC |title=Liebe Hanya: Mary Wigman's Letters to Hanya Holm |date=2003 |publisher=Univ of Wisconsin Press |isbn=978-0-299-19074-3 |pages=36–37 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

== Career ==
=== New York City ===
Kagan trained for dance under [Hanya Holm](/source/Hanya_Holm), one of the "Big Four" founders of American modern dance. She later became part of the Hanya Holm Dance Company.<ref name="SFCTJ" /><ref name="Wigman-2003" /><ref>{{Cite web |last=Ingber |first=Judith Brin |date=June 23, 2021 |title=Modern Dance Performance in the United States |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/dance-performance-in-united-states |access-date=2022-03-06 |website=Jewish Women's Archive }}</ref> Kagan danced in ''Trend'' (1938), Holm's first United States performance.<ref>{{Cite web |date=August 4, 1973 |title=Hanya Holm Dance Concert Set at CC |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/58908142/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-07 |via=Newspapers.com |work=Colorado Springs Gazette-Telegraph |page=77 }}</ref> Other dancers in the Holm company included [Louise Kloepper](/source/Louise_Kloepper) and Henrietta Greenhood (later known as [Eve Gentry](/source/Eve_Gentry)).<ref>{{Cite book |last=McPherson |first=Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xWKpQ_-dPyUC |title=The Bennington School of the Dance: A History in Writings and Interviews |date=2013-06-13 |publisher=McFarland |isbn=978-1-4766-0295-0 |pages=117 |via=Google Books}}</ref>

Kagan was the dance director at [Henry Street Settlement](/source/Henry_Street_Settlement) Playhouse (now Abrons Arts Center) in New York City.{{When|date=March 2022}}<ref name="The Central New Jersey Home News-1971">{{Cite news |date=October 22, 1971 |title=Local Arts: Abbey Simon, Bob and Ray, and New Beckett Work On Tap |pages=21 |work=The Central New Jersey Home News |location=New Brunswick, New Jersey |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/316461901/ |url-access=subscription}}</ref>

=== San Francisco Bay Area ===
She later moved to [Berkeley, California](/source/Berkeley%2C_California), and worked as a co-director of Dance Associates. She founded her own company, the Mimi Kagan Dance Group, and in 1947 also worked under the name the San Francisco Dance League alongside [Anna Halprin](/source/Anna_Halprin).<ref name="The Central New Jersey Home News-1971" /><ref>{{Cite web |date=January 12, 1947 |title=Across the Bay |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/205501908/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-07 |via=Newspapers.com |work=Oakland Tribune |page=72 }}</ref> She received an award from the [San Francisco Arts Commission](/source/San_Francisco_Arts_Commission) for dance presentation.<ref name="The Central New Jersey Home News-1971" /> She also taught dance at the [California Labor School](/source/California_Labor_School) in San Francisco.<ref>{{cite web |title=Inventory of the California Labor School Collection, 1942 - 1957 |url=http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf0489n414/ |publisher=Online Archive of California |accessdate=5 March 2022}}</ref> 

In 1957, the Mimi Kagan Dance Group was named as a "Communist group" by [Herbert Philbrick](/source/Herbert_Philbrick).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Philbrick |first=Herbert A. |author-link=Herbert Philbrick |date=November 19, 1957 |agency=Herald Tribune Service |title=Reds Linked With Deaths of Students |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97131083/reds-linked-with-deaths-of-students/ |access-date=2022-03-07 |via=Newspapers.com |work=[The Columbia Record](/source/The_Columbia_Record) }}</ref> In 1961, the [House Un-American Activities Committee](/source/House_Un-American_Activities_Committee) targeted and [blacklisted](/source/Blacklist_(employment)) the Mimi Kagan Dance Group as a "subversive organization", which was part of a list published in national newspapers.<ref>{{Cite web |date=March 8, 1964 |orig-date=December 1, 1961 |author=[United States House of Representatives](/source/United_States_House_of_Representatives) |title=Guide to Subversive Organizations and Publications |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/347841945/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-07 |via=Newspapers.com |work=[Casper Star-Tribune](/source/Casper_Star-Tribune) |pages=20–23 }}</ref>

=== Princeton, and later Cambridge ===
In 1971 and 1972, she collaborated with her second husband, the composer Earl Kim, on the work "Exercises en Route", which toured and featured text by [Samuel Beckett](/source/Samuel_Beckett), and the soprano soloist [Benita Valente](/source/Benita_Valente). The show had Kagan dancing and four other dancers from [Boston Ballet](/source/Boston_Ballet), including Anamarie Sarazin, Eileen O'Reilly, Robert Steele and Anthony Williams.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Michael |date=January 10, 1971 |title=Harvard's Kim Premiers His 'Exercises' Friday |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/435494944/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-07 |via=Newspapers.com |work=[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe) |page=A-72, A-75 }}</ref> In the 1970s, Kagan was a dance correspondent for ''[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe)'' daily newspaper.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Steinberg |first=Michael |date=March 8, 1973 |title=Critic Will Be Guest Artist of Concert Dance Company |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/435912588/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-07 |via=Newspapers.com |work=[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe) |page=23 }}</ref>  

Kagan died in 1999 in Oakland, California, and is buried at the [Mountain View Cemetery](/source/Mountain_View_Cemetery_(Oakland%2C_California)). Her students included [Murray Louis](/source/Murray_Louis),<ref>{{Cite news |last=Kisselgoff |first=Anna |date=2005-12-17 |title=Savoring the Steps Behind His Dance |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/17/arts/dance/savoring-the-steps-behind-his-dance.html |access-date=2022-03-06 |issn=0362-4331 |url-access=subscription}}</ref> and she designed choreography for Adrienne Hawkins.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Temin |first=Christine |date=November 7, 1985 |title=An Impulse Becomes Dance Career for Adrienne Hawkins |url=http://www.newspapers.com/image/437684409/ |url-access=subscription |access-date=2022-03-07 |via=Newspapers.com |work=[The Boston Globe](/source/The_Boston_Globe) |page=102 }}</ref>
<gallery class="center" mode="packed" widths="124" heights="124">
File:Group shot, 1940s.jpg|with Ted Odza (c. 1940)
File:Mimi Kagan Dance Group.jpg|Mimi Kagan Dance Group
File:Earl and Mimi, unknown gathering, Princeton, 1966 or 1967.jpg|with Earl Kim (c. 1966)
File:Four dancers.jpg|Dancers in "Exercises en Route" (c. 1970)
</gallery>

== Personal life ==
Kagan was married twice, in 1940 to the sculptor [Theodore Odza](/source/Theodore_Odza), and in 1958 to the composer [Earl Kim](/source/Earl_Kim). Both marriages ended in divorce.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WsflAAAAMAAJ |title=Harvard Bulletin |date=1970 |publisher=Harvard Bulletin, Incorporated |pages=41 |via=Google Books}}<br>- {{Cite news |last=Anderson |first=Martin |date=1998-12-02 |title=Obituary: Earl Kim |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/obituary-earl-kim-1188605.html |access-date=2022-03-06 |work=The Independent }}<br>- {{Cite news |last= |date=1958-06-21 |title=Licenses Issued |pages=16 |work=Oakland Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/97078387/marriage-of-kim-odza/ |via=Newspapers.com |access-date=2022-03-07}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Commons cat|Mimi Kagan}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kagan, Mimi}}
Category:1918 births
Category:1999 deaths
Category:People from Samara
Category:Expressionist choreographers
Category:Expressionist dancers
Category:American modern dancers
Category:20th-century American dancers
Category:Soviet emigrants to the United States
Category:American people of Russian-Jewish descent
Category:Journalists from Berkeley, California

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Mimi Kagan](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimi_Kagan) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mimi_Kagan?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.