Florence Waren

Florence Waren (1917-2012), born Sadie Rigal, was a South African dancer who performed at the Bal Tabarin.[1][2]

Florence Waren

She moved to Europe from South Africa in 1938, and was soon hired by the Bal Tabarin. In 1939 she was offered a place in the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but World War II began before she could join.[2]

During the occupation of Paris the Bal Tabarin was frequented by German officers; she performed there then.[2] Unknown to the Germans, she was Jewish, but she was still interned for several months in late 1940 as an enemy alien, because as a South African, she was a British citizen.[2] On her release she returned to the Bal Tabarin and paired up with Frederic Apcar to form the dancing duo "Florence et Frederic".[2] They became famous, appearing on stage with the likes of Edith Piaf and Maurice Chevalier, while Waren at the same time aided the French Resistance.[2][3] She hid fellow Jews in her apartment, helped Jews find their way from one safe house to the next, smuggled supplies and arms to the French Resistance, and, after a performance in Germany for French prisoners of war, collected letters prisoners had written to their relatives, which if discovered could have made her a prisoner.[2] In 1944 Frederic rented a house in the suburbs to hide her and several other Jewish performers after learning she was to be arrested.[4]

Florence married Stanley Waren in 1949, who she met performing in New York at the Copacabana with Frederic.[2] She then ended the dancing duo with Frederic (but trained a replacement); Frederic died in 2008.[2] Florence stayed in New York with Stanley and appeared on the Kate Smith and Ed Sullivan shows, as well as in plays.[2] She also choreographed shows Stanley directed in Africa, Taiwan, and China.[2] From approximately 1973 until 1983, she was a professor of theater and dance at City College, and she led the department for part of that time.[2] She was also a dance panelist on the New York State Council on the Arts.[2]

She died in 2012, and her obituary was included in The Socialite who Killed a Nazi with Her Bare Hands: And 144 Other Fascinating People who Died this Year, a collection of New York Times obituaries published in 2012.[5]

There is a documentary about her by her son Mark Waren, titled Dancing Lessons.[6] He also made two documentaries about her friends, Romance and Resistance and The Count of Montmarte.[6] Romance and Resistance is about Gisy Varga, a Hungarian-born nude dancer at the Bal Tabarin who had an affair with a Jewish doctor and hid him from the Nazis.[6] The Count of Montmarte is about Mario Lembo, a gay Italian aristocrat-turned-performer and member of Josephine Baker’s touring company, who supported the resistance and aided Jews.[6]

References
  1. "Famed Dancer and Holocaust Survivor Florence Waren Dies at 95". Archived from the original on 2014-10-18.
  2. Grady, Denise (4 August 2012). "Florence Waren, Jewish Dancer who Resisted Nazis, Dies at 95". New York. New York Times. Retrieved 15 October 2014.
  3. The Socialite who Killed a Nazi with Her Bare Hands: And 144 Other Fascinating People who Died this Year. New York Times. 2012.
  4. "Jewish dancer who resisted Nazis dies at 95". ynet.
  5. "The Socialite Who Killed a Nazi with Her Bare Hands and 143 Other ..."
  6. "NEW YORK". The Jewish Daily Forward. 3 October 2003.
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