Thalia Mara Mahoney was born Elizabeth Simons in Chicago in 1911, the daughter of Russian Jewish parents Louis B. Simons and Lillian Newman Simons. She married Arthur Mahoney in New York in 1939.
She trained with some of the great ballet figures among them Adolph Bolm, Olga Preobajenska, Nicholas Legat and Michel Fokine.
She began at a very young age and danced professionally with various ballet companies around the world. Her professional debut was in 1926 with the Ravinia Park Opera Ballets in Chicago, leaving then to join the Carina Ari Ballet in Paris.
After returning to the USA in 1931, she developed her performance career in New York as a Soloist in various venues, which included Radio City Music Hall, the Capitol Theater and Roxy Theater.
With her husband, Arthur Mahoney, they performed in their own concert program in Ziegfeld Theater, New York and also toured it extensively across the US and Canada.
Mara also had a international reputation as a educator and has eleven books, several being textbooks on ballet for students and teachers alike. She also served as a contributing editor to Dance Magazine and a critic and feature writer for The Christian Science Monitor.
In 1947, with interest towards raising the standards of ballet teaching in the U.S., she started the School of Ballet Repertory. From 1952 through 1963 she served as president of the Ballet Repertory Guild, which functioned as a teaching and certifying organization for ballet teachers and taught from 1957 to 1959 at the High School of Performing Arts.
In 1962, she closed the school to establish the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts which combined academics and the performing arts.
The academy, based on the principles of the state supported schools of Europe, was the first of its kind in the United States and operated until 1973.
In 1975, the Jackson Ballet Guild invited her to develop a professional ballet company and school for the state of Mississippi.
In 1979 as part of the development plan she secured the International Ballet Competition for the City of Jackson.
In 1982 she resigned her position as Artistic Director of the Jackson Ballet after developing an acclaimed company of twenty-two dancers. She continued to serve on the Board of Directors of the USA IBC and as their artistic consultant and Honorary Chairman.
Her awards include one of the first Mayor's Honors and the Nijinski Medal of Honor.
She trained with some of the great ballet figures among them Adolph Bolm, Olga Preobajenska, Nicholas Legat and Michel Fokine.
She began at a very young age and danced professionally with various ballet companies around the world. Her professional debut was in 1926 with the Ravinia Park Opera Ballets in Chicago, leaving then to join the Carina Ari Ballet in Paris.
After returning to the USA in 1931, she developed her performance career in New York as a Soloist in various venues, which included Radio City Music Hall, the Capitol Theater and Roxy Theater.
With her husband, Arthur Mahoney, they performed in their own concert program in Ziegfeld Theater, New York and also toured it extensively across the US and Canada.
Mara also had a international reputation as a educator and has eleven books, several being textbooks on ballet for students and teachers alike. She also served as a contributing editor to Dance Magazine and a critic and feature writer for The Christian Science Monitor.
In 1947, with interest towards raising the standards of ballet teaching in the U.S., she started the School of Ballet Repertory. From 1952 through 1963 she served as president of the Ballet Repertory Guild, which functioned as a teaching and certifying organization for ballet teachers and taught from 1957 to 1959 at the High School of Performing Arts.
In 1962, she closed the school to establish the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts which combined academics and the performing arts.
The academy, based on the principles of the state supported schools of Europe, was the first of its kind in the United States and operated until 1973.
In 1975, the Jackson Ballet Guild invited her to develop a professional ballet company and school for the state of Mississippi.
In 1979 as part of the development plan she secured the International Ballet Competition for the City of Jackson.
In 1982 she resigned her position as Artistic Director of the Jackson Ballet after developing an acclaimed company of twenty-two dancers. She continued to serve on the Board of Directors of the USA IBC and as their artistic consultant and Honorary Chairman.
Her awards include one of the first Mayor's Honors and the Nijinski Medal of Honor.
Thalia Mara Mahoney was born Elizabeth Simons in Chicago in 1911, the daughter of Russian Jewish parents Louis B. Simons and Lillian Newman Simons. She married Arthur Mahoney in New York in 1939.
She trained with some of the great ballet figures among them Adolph Bolm, Olga Preobajenska, Nicholas Legat and Michel Fokine.
She began at a very young age and danced professionally with various ballet companies around the world. Her professional debut was in 1926 with the Ravinia Park Opera Ballets in Chicago, leaving then to join the Carina Ari Ballet in Paris.
After returning to the USA in 1931, she developed her performance career in New York as a Soloist in various venues, which included Radio City Music Hall, the Capitol Theater and Roxy Theater.
With her husband, Arthur Mahoney, they performed in their own concert program in Ziegfeld Theater, New York and also toured it extensively across the US and Canada.
Mara also had a international reputation as a educator and has eleven books, several being textbooks on ballet for students and teachers alike. She also served as a contributing editor to Dance Magazine and a critic and feature writer for The Christian Science Monitor.
In 1947, with interest towards raising the standards of ballet teaching in the U.S., she started the School of Ballet Repertory. From 1952 through 1963 she served as president of the Ballet Repertory Guild, which functioned as a teaching and certifying organization for ballet teachers and taught from 1957 to 1959 at the High School of Performing Arts.
In 1962, she closed the school to establish the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts which combined academics and the performing arts.
The academy, based on the principles of the state supported schools of Europe, was the first of its kind in the United States and operated until 1973.
In 1975, the Jackson Ballet Guild invited her to develop a professional ballet company and school for the state of Mississippi.
In 1979 as part of the development plan she secured the International Ballet Competition for the City of Jackson.
In 1982 she resigned her position as Artistic Director of the Jackson Ballet after developing an acclaimed company of twenty-two dancers. She continued to serve on the Board of Directors of the USA IBC and as their artistic consultant and Honorary Chairman.
Her awards include one of the first Mayor's Honors and the Nijinski Medal of Honor.
She trained with some of the great ballet figures among them Adolph Bolm, Olga Preobajenska, Nicholas Legat and Michel Fokine.
She began at a very young age and danced professionally with various ballet companies around the world. Her professional debut was in 1926 with the Ravinia Park Opera Ballets in Chicago, leaving then to join the Carina Ari Ballet in Paris.
After returning to the USA in 1931, she developed her performance career in New York as a Soloist in various venues, which included Radio City Music Hall, the Capitol Theater and Roxy Theater.
With her husband, Arthur Mahoney, they performed in their own concert program in Ziegfeld Theater, New York and also toured it extensively across the US and Canada.
Mara also had a international reputation as a educator and has eleven books, several being textbooks on ballet for students and teachers alike. She also served as a contributing editor to Dance Magazine and a critic and feature writer for The Christian Science Monitor.
In 1947, with interest towards raising the standards of ballet teaching in the U.S., she started the School of Ballet Repertory. From 1952 through 1963 she served as president of the Ballet Repertory Guild, which functioned as a teaching and certifying organization for ballet teachers and taught from 1957 to 1959 at the High School of Performing Arts.
In 1962, she closed the school to establish the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts which combined academics and the performing arts.
The academy, based on the principles of the state supported schools of Europe, was the first of its kind in the United States and operated until 1973.
In 1975, the Jackson Ballet Guild invited her to develop a professional ballet company and school for the state of Mississippi.
In 1979 as part of the development plan she secured the International Ballet Competition for the City of Jackson.
In 1982 she resigned her position as Artistic Director of the Jackson Ballet after developing an acclaimed company of twenty-two dancers. She continued to serve on the Board of Directors of the USA IBC and as their artistic consultant and Honorary Chairman.
Her awards include one of the first Mayor's Honors and the Nijinski Medal of Honor.
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