Extraordinary people find one true passion in life and devote their life to it. The Bradford Branch of American Association of University Women (AAUW) and the Bradford Landmark Society honor one such woman, Miriam Kreinson, whose dedication to dance and teaching it to others defined her life. It can truthfully be said “she taught Bradford to dance.”
Miriam Sara Kreinson was born Dec. 28, 1910 to Jacob and Bella Kreinson, Polish immigrants, who settled in Bradford in 1886 and opened a successful merchandise business on Main Street. Her brother, David Kreinson, born in 1903, later owned and was editor of the Bradford Journal newspaper.
Quite simply, little Miriam loved to dance. By nine years old, she was performing in local plays for the Temple Beth Zion; by age ten she was dancing in local theatrical productions and by age fourteen she was studying at the True Art Studio, under the direction of Mrs. Marian Johnson. She graduated from Bradford High School in 1928 and spent a year at Syracuse University, but by June 1930 had left for the Chalif Normal School of Dance in Manhattan, NYC under the direction of Louis Chalif, considered to be “the first Russian ballet master to teach in America.” The Chalif School, founded in 1904, was one of the earliest schools in the U.S. to instruct teachers in dance.
Miriam returned to Bradford in March 1932 and announced that she was opening a School of Dance studio “for children, beginners in dancing, and for those who are advanced and desire to continue their study.” She was 22 years old. The Era called Kreinson “an accomplished interpreter of the terpsichorean art.” She opened her studio in the newly built Odd Fellows building on the Public Square. It was an immediate success. Dances taught included tap, acrobatic, musical comedy routines, limbering and stretching, and group dancing.
She believed that anyone could learn to dance and eventually taught hundreds of students. Lessons were reasonably priced, only $10 for twelve lessons, with special summer rates available. Classes were held for children ages 3-10, juniors, ages 11-18, young adult men and women, and business girls. A course in stage makeup was offered to all students of the School of Dance at reduced rates.
Each year she organized and produced a dance revue for her students. These “Little Shows” were dance extravaganzas with special costumes, lighting effects, colorful backdrops and extensive dance routines. These were held at Shea’s Theater, with local bandleader Dick O’Day and his Country Club Collegians for musical accompaniment.
In 1935 she moved her dance studio across the street, to the lower level of the Terminal building. With larger quarters, she expanded her classes and offered ballet and ballroom dancing as well.
Miriam continued her own education as well, traveling during the classroom breaks to California, Mexico, Europe, and New York City to learn more dance routines, such as interpretive dance, native dances, ballet and the tango.
One of her more unusual groups of students was the Bradford High School Owls football team whom she ‘taught to kick’ by using techniques commonly found in ballet. Approached by Coach Bob Pflug in 1938 and asked to help his players become more agile and thus increase their effectiveness as football players, Miriam agreed, and spent the next two years as a quasi-football coach for the team. She later said that while the football players objected strenuously to the hour’s ballet class, “Coach Pflug made them take dancing lessons – and like ‘em.” And it worked. The Owls were undefeated in over 20 games.
In September 1941, she spent several weeks in Hollywood, studying dance from dance directors with Universal and MGM movie studios.
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor that December, Miriam Kreinson took on a new role – training dancers for USO shows. She called her new dance company the “Miriam Sage Dancers,” perhaps believing a more generic name other than her Jewish surname would be more suitable when performing at military bases overseas.
After the war, in February 1947, she re-opened the Studio of Dance for a brief time, but in the 1950s she moved to Las Vegas, and remained there the rest of her life. Little is known of her life after she left Bradford, but her friends in Las Vegas reported that she converted her garage into a dance studio for all the children who wanted to dance. It was also said “she never raised her voice except in laughter.”
Miriam Kreinson died on Jan. 19, 2008. She was 97 years old.
