Pola Nirenska
Pola Nirenska (28 July 1910 — 25 July 1992), born Pola Nirensztajn, was a Polish performer of modern dance. She had a critically acclaimed if brief career in Austria, Germany, Italy, and Poland in the 1930s before fleeing the continent in 1935 due to rising antisemitism. She spent 14 years in the United Kingdom, primarily entertaining refugees, troops, and war workers. She emigrated to the United States in 1949 and settled in Washington, D.C., where she was widely acknowledged as the city's leading choreographer and performer of modern dance until her death. Early life Nirenska was born Pola Nirensztajn on 28 July 1910 in Warsaw, Poland, which at that time was part of the Russian Empire. Her parents, Mordechaj and Ita ( Waksmann), were observant Jews. She had three siblings. The family was well-off, as Nirenska's father made men's neckties for a living. She exhibited a strong interest in dance from a very early age. Nirenska was nine years old when she received her first formal training in dance (at a summer dance camp for girls), and 15 years old when she choreographed her first work (a solo piece, performed in the family kitchen, set to Camille Saint-Saëns' Danse macabre).