About Thalia Mara



	Thalia Mara Born in Chicago, Miss Mara has had an extensive career as a performer in the United States as well as abroad. She trained as a ballet dancer under the tutelage of the greatest Russian ballet stars of the Diaghilev era in the United States (Chicago and New York City) and in Paris, France. Starting at a very young age, she danced professionally with various ballet companies around the world. After returning to the United States 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, Roxy Theater, and in several Broadway shows. Along with her husband, the late Arthur Mahoney, performed in their own concert program in Ziegfeld Theater, New York and also toured it extensively across the United States and Canada. Miss Mara also has an international reputation as a teacher and ballet educator. She served as a contributing editor to Dance Magazine, a critic and feature writer for The Christian Science Monitor and authored eleven published books, several of which are textbooks on ballet for students and teachers alike, and have been translated and published in Spain, Germany, France, Egypt, Japan and England; one art book, To Dance to Live, in collaboration with artist Tina Mackler. In 1947, with interest towards raising the standards of ballet teaching in the U.S., she started the School of Ballet Repertory, a professional school of dance in New York City. Students and teachers attended the school from the U.S., Canada, South America, the Middle East, Europe, the Philippines and Japan. From 1952 through 1963 she served as president of the Ballet Repertory Guild, which functioned as a teaching and certifying organization for ballet teachers. Additionally, she taught from 1957 to 1959 at the High School of Performing Arts, NYC. In 1962, she closed the school to establish the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts, an elementary and secondary school, chartered by the New York State board of regents, 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. Graduates of the Academy have been principal dancers in American Ballet Theatre, the Joffrey Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, Germany and many other Companies. In 1975, the Jackson Ballet Guild invited Miss Mara to develop a professional ballet company and school for the state of Mississippi. In 1979, as part of her development plan, she secured the International Ballet Competition for the City of Jackson. This prestigious world-class event operates under the aegis of the International Theatre Institute, a branch of UNESCO, and alternates among the international cities of Varna, Bulgaria; Moscow, Russia; Helsinki, Finland; Paris, France; Jackson, Mississippi. By an Act of the United States Congress, Jackson is the official USA home of the IBC. Miss Mara has acted as consultant for both the National Ballet Company of Egypt and the Mexican National Ballet; as the US juror and Vice-president of the Jury for the Third International Concours de Ballet in Tokyo, Japan and as consultant and US juror for the First and Second Japan Ballet and Modern Dance Competitions in Nagoya, Japan. In 1982, Miss Mara 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. In 1986, she accepted the post of Artistic Director for the third USA IBC competition and had continued to serve in that capacity for the fourth and fifth competitions in 1990 and 1994. In 1991, she was granted a charter from the state of Mississippi for the Thalia Mara Arts International Foundation, a 501 (C) 3 (tax exempt) organization whose mission is to "preserve nurture and advance the education, understanding and love of the arts in all their manifestations." To date, the foundation has financially helped such events as the IBC and Mississippi Homecoming among other activities. In 1999, the Foundation began production of the "World Performance Series," an Annual Series that brings world class theatrical performers and performances to Jackson. In 1992, Miss Mara was appointed Executive Director by Governor Fordice to spearhead Mississippi Homecoming, a celebration of 175 years of statehood. Afterwards, she returned to her position as Artistic Director for the Highly successful 1994 USA IBC. In 1998, Miss Mara, together with Eudora Welty and Margaret Walker Alexander, was awarded one of the first Mayor's Honors. That same year, she was also awarded the Nijinski Medal of Honor by the Polish Government. HONORS Lifetime Achievement Award, Professional Dance Teacher's Association, NYC, 1990 Honorary Degree, Doctor of Arts, Millsaps College, 1990 The Governor's Mississippi Artist Achievement Award of Excellence, 1990 Mississippi Historical Society Award of Merit for Outstanding Contribution to Mississippi Dance Teacher Now Magazine - Circle of Dance Award for Lifetime Contributions to Dance Education * By act of Jackson City Council, renamed the Jackson Municipal Auditorium to THALIA MARA HALL, 1996. First Mayor's Arts Achievement Award, 1998. Vaslav Nijinsky Medal, by the Government of Poland, 1998. Board of Directors, Belhaven College "Medal of Excellence" awarded by Mississippi University for Women, April 2000 AGELESS HEROES, Statewide Honoree awarded by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Mississippi, 1999. Best of the New South Award, by City of Jackson, December 2000 MEMBERSHIPS International Women's Forum, Jackson Chapter Mississippi Arts and Letters Society Jackson 2000 REFERENCE BOOKS Who's Who in American Women Who's Who in the East Foremost Women in Communication Who's Who in Mississippi