The Milein Cosman Dancers Collection is part of the Music and Migration Collection Salzburg.
The artist Milein Cosman was born in 1921 in Gotha (Germany) and grew up in Düsseldorf.
Following her emigration to Switzerland in 1937 and England in 1939, she started her studies at the Slade School of Fine Art in Oxford.
She became a prolific artist who captured many famous performers including musicians and dancers like the Italian dancer and choreographer José Greco.
George Balanchine (choreographer) / Carmen Amaya (dancer and actor) / Kurt Jooss (choreographer and dancer) / Mikhail Baryshnikov (dancer)
Birgit Åkesson (9) (ca. 1950s) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Drawing physical movements:
In her oeuvre Milein Cosman took great passion for drawing physical movements.
Pulcinella (5) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Impressions of her work on dance and music theater:
After her studies at the Slade School of Fine Art in Oxford she then worked as a freelance artist, frequently depicting performers or scenes from musical theatre and performance.
Fancy Free (American Ballet Theater) (4) Fancy Free by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Sailors in “Fancy Free”:
The ballet in one act is based on the music of Leonard Bernstein. Jerome Robbins wrote the libretto and developed the choreography for the first performance in 1944.
Indian Dance 1 (Mayil Attam) (4) (ca. 1940s - 1950s) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Donation of the collection to Salzburg:
The Milein Cosman Dancers Collection was donated by the artist to the University of Salzburg in 2017; it contains drawings, prints, and oil paintings:
Gestures (10) by Milein CosmanParis-Lodron-Universität Salzburg
Re-Enactment project Milein Cosman:
2021 was Milein’s centenary year. In honor of her anniversary, the artist Anja Manfredi created a reenactment of Milein's dance sketches together with the performer Linda Samaraweerová and the dance scholars Nicole Haitzinger and Lukas Ascher Bengough.
In their reenactment project, they have been inspired and touched by the collection's rich material of gestures and poses.
Milein Cosman died in London in 2017.
Concept and texts: Prof. Dr. Nils Grosch / Ruard Absaroka Ph.D. / Natalie Stadler BA. MA.
Photographs: Hubert Auer
© Cosman Keller Art & Music Trust
https://www.plus.ac.at/kunst-musik-und-tanzwissenschaft/abteilung-musik-und-tanzwissenschaft/die-abteilung/sammlungen-der-abteilung-musik-und-tanzwissenschaft/salzburg-music-and-migration-collections/dancers-collection-milein-cosman/
https://www.cosmankellertrust.org/
