Dancers: Ronny Johansson (Polka)

Max Pollak

While in Austria Max Pollak was part of the avant-garde dance scene. He did a series of intaglio portraits of dancers, usually costumed and posed, from one of their noted performances.

Dancer Ronny Irene Johansson was born on July 26, 1891 in Latvia, to Swedish and Scottish parents. Her father, a businessman in the shipping industry, sent Ronny to a Russian and Swedish boarding schools. It was in Sweden that she established a professional dancing career, debuting in Weisbaden in 1916. After touring and performing throughout Europe, she moved the U.S. in 1925 to pursue Modern dance. She traveled first to Los Angeles to study under Ruth St. Denis at the Denishawn School of Dance. There, she met Margaret H'Doubler, who at the time was establishing the first dance major in the United States (and possibly the western world) at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Johansson earned her degree there in 1928.

Throughout her time in the U.S. she became a known for her self-choreographed solo performances and was considered a rising star in Modern dance by the famed New York Times critic John Martin. However, her career in the U.S. was cut short by the stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing economic disaster. She left once more for Europe, returning to Sweden in the early 1930s to champion public education efforts.

She founded the Swedish Dance Teachers Association and opened her own school of dance. She became a vocal supporter of women's rights as well. Johansson's work in dance and social activism continued throughout her life. In 1977, through the recommendation of Ingmar Bergman, she was awarded the state artistic salary. Ronny Johansson died in Stockholm, Sweden in 1979.