Remembering the life of a prima ballerina

An exhibit devoted to Lisa Boehm's career as a teacher and prima ballerina ensures her spirit will live on in Elgin.

On Sunday, the Elgin Area Historical Society and Museum opened three new exhibits, including "At the Ballet: Lisa Boehm's Nutcracker."

Boehm, who died in January at age 94, ran a ballet studio for more than 50 years on the city's east side and organized "The Nutcracker" for 33 years.

Last week, she posthumously received the Legacy Award from the city's Image Advisory Commission.

Boehm, a Swiss citizen born in Germany, was just 8 years old when she was admitted to a ballet school led by Russian expatriate ballerina Eugienie Edouardova, who danced with Anna Pavlova.

By the time Boehm reached her teens, she earned the top rank of a prima ballerina at the Berlin Opera.

Her family fled Nazi Germany for Elgin, and she opened the ballet school.

Dominic Walsh, one of her students in the 1970s and 1980s, remembers details about Boehm's fabulous life in Germany.

"She had chauffeurs. She had furs. She was the prima ballerina in the 1930s in Berlin," said Walsh, who runs his own ballet company in Texas. "We just kind of lived vicariously through her."

Dancing, discipline and importance to detail were the lessons Boehm instilled in Walsh from the beginning -- and they're lessons he says he'll never forget.

Boehm also was the type of woman who spoke her mind and didn't accept any excuses, said Audree Keltner Riddle, who enrolled in the school for seven years. For example, if you ever came to class late, Boehm never let you live it down, she said.

The exhibit features vintage photos of Boehm with her parents and siblings and, in later years, with her husband, Frank, children and grandchildren.

Also on display is a red-and-white-striped ballet costume made in Germany that Boehm wore in the 1930s, as well as costumes and masks students wore during the school's "Nutcracker" productions.

Another new exhibit that opened Sunday details the 100-year history of Wing Park Golf Course.

The third new exhibit is "Piano in the Parlor," which includes a vintage 1950s parlor setting showcasing an Elgin-made Seybold piano and sheet music.

All three exhibits run through 2010, museum officials said.