Elgin loses dance icon
The Fox Valley has lost an ambassador of ballet who taught dance -- and much more -- to thousands of youngsters over five decades.
Lisa Boehm, who operated an Elgin dance studio for 50 years and was the driving force behind the city's annual "Nutcracker" performance for 33 years, died Thursday.
The 94-year-old Boehm was surrounded by family members at a California nursing home while music of Luciano Pavarotti played in the background.
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Friends, city leaders and members of the arts community recalled Boehm as a superb performer, an inspirational teacher and one of the building blocks of the city's culture.
"Her name in town was synonymous with dance and especially classical ballet," said Elgin Community College Trustee Clare Ollayos, a longtime student and close friend of Boehm. "When you thought of dance in Elgin, you thought of Lisa Boehm."
Born as a Swiss citizen in Germany, Boehm excelled at ballet and at 8 was admitted to a school led by Russian expatriate ballerina Eugienie Edouardova, who danced with Anna Pavlova.
By the time Boehm was a teen, she earned the top rank of a prima ballerina at the Berlin Opera.
Boehm's extremely high leaps and beating of her legs while in the air -- more typical for male dancers -- helped her gain acclaim.
Her family eventually fled Nazi Germany.
On a train ride in Switzerland, she met her future husband, and they eventually moved to New York and finally, Elgin.
The Lisa Boehm School of Ballet grew from a basement location at 77 Villa St. to one of the premier houses in the Fox Valley area, training thousands of girls and boys over the years.
"She actually said she loved teaching dance more than performing -- and she loved performing," recalled Ollayos, noting that many of Boehm's students went on to major theaters and eventually opened their own studios.
Dominic "Nic" Walsh, a Carpentersville native, began learning from Boehm when he was 6.
Ten years later he went to the Houston Ballet Academy and achieved the highest rank of principal with another dance company by 25. Walsh credited Boehm for her strong spirit, tenacity and understanding of the art form.
"I really felt drawn to the environment that Lisa had. She had a very rich career and an incredible and diverse background," said Walsh, now artistic director of the Dominic Walsh Dance Theater in Houston, Texas. "I owe her so much; Elgin was incredibly lucky to have her. She brought a very dignified element of culture."
Ollayos, who studied under Boehm for 40 years, said Boehm was a firm advocate of lifelong exercise, proper nutrition and good posture.
Boehm was a great teacher because she focused on excellence, instilled her students with discipline and realized the interconnectedness of the arts, such as ballet and opera.
Until she was 90, Boehm led the always-sold-out performance of the Nutcracker at the Hemmens.
Elgin Mayor Ed Schock said The Nutcracker was an event that made the entire city proud.
"She really was one of the forerunners of the cultural arts in Elgin," Schock said. "She certainly made a great contribution and will have a great legacy. Clearly, she enriched the arts community in Elgin greatly."
Boehm closed her studio in late 2004 and was the among the first class inducted into the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame in 2002.
"We all looked up to Lisa. She brought class and a new level of awareness of culture to our city," said Murna Hansemann, an Elgin resident and member of the board of directors of the Fox Valley Arts Hall of Fame. "Everybody thought so highly of her in the area."
Boehm is survived by her son, Frank, and two grandchildren.
Funeral arrangements were unavailable Friday.