Esther Junger

Esther Junger (March 20, 1902–September 21, 1987) was a 20th-century American modern dancer and choreographer.

Life and work Esther Junger was born in New York City in 1902. The peak of her artistic career was in the 1930s, after which she became "increasingly preoccupied with commercial work." She also performed "a number of solo recitals in New York City and appeared as a featured dancer in Gluck-Sandor's [productions of the modern ballets] El Amor Brujo and Petrouchka as well as a number of other productions."

Initially trained by "the group of the late Bird Larson," she was awarded a fellowship, along with José Limón and Anna Sokolow, to the Bennington School of the Dance at Bennington College in 1937. The New York Times argued that of the three resulting choreographies, Junger's product "represents the factor of greatest interest."

Elsewhere she did the original choreography and staging for Dark of the Moon, Tis of Thee, Parade, Billy Rose's Diamond Horseshoe, and Dear Judas, in which she also danced. She choreographed a Milton Berle show called Spring in Brazil. In the late 1940s she choreographed for the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey circus. In 1950 she choreographed the "Willie the Weeper" segment of Ballet Ballads. In 1970 she was involved in the organization of the Inner City Repertory Dance Company in the city of Los Angeles. Esther Junger Klempner died in Santa Monica, California in 1987.