{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2020}} {{Infobox person | name = Waldeen Falkenstein | image = WaldeenFalkenstein1933.jpg | alt = Face of a young woman with light skin and dark hair. | caption = Waldeen Falkenstein, from a 1933 publication | birth_date = {{birth date|1913|2|1}} | birth_place = [[Dallas]], [[United States]] | death_date = {{death date and age|1993|8|18|1913|2|1}} | death_place = [[Cuernavaca]], [[Mexico]] | awards = [[José Limón National Contemporary Dance Award|José Limón Award]] (1988) }}
'''Waldeen (von) Falkenstein'''<ref name="Falkenstein">also findable under ''Falkestein''</ref>''' Brooke de Zatz'''<ref name="Thesaurus">[http://enbc.asp.visard.ca/Record.htm?Record=10141557146929697399&idlist=1 ''Waldeen, 1913, 1993''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110706213224/http://enbc.asp.visard.ca/Record.htm?Record=10141557146929697399&idlist=1 |date=July 6, 2011 }} (French), Bibliothèque de la danse de l'ESBCM.</ref> better known as "Waldeen" (February 1, 1913{{spaced ndash}}August 18, 1993) was an [[United States|American]]-born [[dancer]] and [[choreographer]]. Together with [[Anna Sokolow]], [[Alicia Markova]], [[Anton Dolin (ballet dancer)|Anton Dolin]] and [[Michel Descombey]], she belongs to the great precursors of modern [[Mexico|Mexican]] dance.<ref name="Biennale">[http://www.ickl.org/conf07_mexico/ ''25th Biennial Conference of ICKL''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081207113145/http://www.ickl.org/conf07_mexico/ |date=December 7, 2008 }}. Also a published poet, Waldeen was an important early translator of the poetry of [http://www.jonathancohenweb.com/waldeen.html Pablo Neruda], who said to her: "Waldeen, thank you, for your poems of my poems, which are better than mine."</ref>
== Biography == Waldeen was born in [[Dallas]]. Her father, an engraver, and her mother, a pianist, greatly encouraged Waldeen to explore the arts from a young age. Due to this, among other influences, she developed a dream of becoming a [[ballet]] dancer, and said she never wanted to do anything else.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Waldeen and the Americas |url=https://www.jonathancohenweb.com/waldeen.html |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=www.jonathancohenweb.com}}</ref> She spent the better part of her youth training under [[Theodore Kosloff]] in Los Angeles, where he recognized her talent early and invited her to tour with his ballet company.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Waldeen and the Americas |url=https://www.jonathancohenweb.com/waldeen.html |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=www.jonathancohenweb.com}}</ref> Her first solo performance, done at age 13, was for the [[Los Angeles Opera Company]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Waldeen and the Americas |url=https://www.jonathancohenweb.com/waldeen.html |access-date=2022-04-29 |website=www.jonathancohenweb.com}}</ref> She joined the Japanese choreographer [[Seki Sano]] when he moved to Mexico. She taught and performed in Los Angeles in the early 1930s.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinmusicda00holl|title=Who's who in music and dance in Southern California|date=1933|publisher=Hollywood : Bureau of Musical Research|others=University of California Libraries|pages=[https://archive.org/details/whoswhoinmusicda00holl/page/190 190]}}</ref> She returned to Mexico with the dancer [[Winifred Widener]] to [[Mexico City]] in 1939, where they danced at the theater of fine arts ({{langx|es|Teatro de Bellas Artes}}). She was ordered to establish the ''Ballet de Bellas Artes'', the ballet group of the theater, which she led until it was dissolved in 1947. At this time she had also an affair with [[Bodo Uhse]] and lived together with him, before he married Alma Agee.<ref name="Uhse">Kristin Silcher. [http://golm.rz.uni-potsdam.de/Mexiko/Rabe/bodo_alameda.htm ''Bodo Uhse: Sonntagsträumerei in der Alameda''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070606102311/http://golm.rz.uni-potsdam.de/Mexiko/Rabe/bodo_alameda.htm |date=June 6, 2007 }} (German), Berlin, 1961.</ref>
Waldeen married Rodolfo Valencia, a theater director, and was invited by the revolutionary government of [[Cuba]], where she stood from 1962 to 1965. In 1966 she established a further ballet company, known as the "Waldeen Ballet". Notable dancers of the company were [[Guillermina Bravo]] and [[Ana Mérida]].<ref name="Mujers">{{Cite web |url=http://www.e-mujeres.gob.mx/wb2/eMex/eMex_V?page=2 |title=''Von Falkestein, Waldeen'' |access-date=May 4, 2009 |archive-date=March 12, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090312035452/http://www.e-mujeres.gob.mx/wb2/eMex/eMex_V?page=2 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref name="UNAM">[http://www.danza.unam.mx/personaje_pags/waldeen.htm ''Waldeen''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090430211226/http://www.danza.unam.mx/personaje_pags/waldeen.htm |date=April 30, 2009 }}, Dirreción de Danza UNAM, Mexico City.</ref>
In 1988, she received the inaugural [[José Limón National Contemporary Dance Award|José Limón National Dance Award]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.culturasinaloa.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6736:este-domingo-el-28-premio-nacional-de-danza-jose-limon-a-cecilia-appleton&catid=35&Itemid=168 |title=Este domingo, el 28º Premio Nacional de Danza José Limón a Cecilia Appleton |trans-title=This Sunday, the 25th José Limón National Dance Award to Cecilia Appleton |publisher=Instituto Sinaloense de Cultura |location=Culiacán |language=es |date=2015-04-11 |access-date=2020-04-27 |archive-date=January 23, 2025 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250123004857/http://www.culturasinaloa.gob.mx/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=6736:este-domingo-el-28-premio-nacional-de-danza-jose-limon-a-cecilia-appleton&catid=35&Itemid=168 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
She died in [[Cuernavaca]].
== References == {{reflist}}
== External links == * {{IMDb name|2981696|Waldeen}} * Jonathan Cohen: [http://www.jonathancohenweb.com/waldeen.html Waldeen and the Americas: The Dance Has Many Faces] * {{IDanceDB|10264|Ballet Waldeen}} * Deborah Smith: [https://www.amazon.com/Terpsichores-Daughter-Deborah-Smith-ebook/dp/B006103WIK Terpsichore's Daughter]. ''Authorized biography of Waldeen.''
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Falkenstein, Waldeen}} [[Category:American ballerinas]] [[Category:American choreographers]] [[Category:American women choreographers]] [[Category:Mexican ballerinas]] [[Category:Mexican choreographers]] [[Category:Mexican women choreographers]] [[Category:Ballet choreographers]] [[Category:Entertainers from Dallas]] [[Category:1913 births]] [[Category:1993 deaths]] [[Category:20th-century American women]] [[Category:20th-century American ballet dancers]] [[Category:American emigrants to Mexico]]