deaths
September 1, 1974
Gerd Neggo, Estonian dancer, dance teacher, and choreographer (born 1891)
Gerd Neggo
Gerd Neggo was an Estonian dancer, dance teacher and choreographer. She studied the musical response methods of É. Jaques-Dalcroze, trained under Rudolf von Laban in Hamburg, Germany, and in 1924 established her own dance studio at Tallinn, Estonia, and promoted modern dance and mime based on classical ballet. During the Soviet occupation of Estonia, she and her husband Paul Olak migrated to Sweden. Her contributions to the cultural heritage of Estonia, as the founder of modern dance and mime in her country, is recognised via a scholarship, awarded annually since 2011.