Thalia Mara

Thalia Mara, born Elizabeth Symons on June 28, 1911, in Chicago, Illinois, was an American ballet dancer, educator, and author. The daughter of Russian émigré parents, she began her performance career in Chicago before traveling to Paris in 1927.

Mara's Broadway career spanned from 1934 to 1937, during which she appeared in Virginia and the musical The Great Waltz. Following her stage work, she devoted herself to ballet education and became a significant figure in the field. Alongside her husband Arthur Mahoney, she operated Ballet Repertory in New York City and in 1962 co-founded the National Academy of Ballet and Theatre Arts in New York.

Mara later relocated to Jackson, Mississippi, where she played a central role in establishing the USA International Ballet Competition. She also founded the Thalia Mara Arts International Foundation. Over the course of her career she authored eleven books on ballet, including The Language of Ballet: A Dictionary, published in 1987 by Princeton Book Company.

In 1994, the Municipal Auditorium in Jackson, Mississippi was renamed Thalia Mara Hall in recognition of her contributions to the arts in that city. A performance space in Chicago's Pilsen Historic District, Thalia Hall, located at 18th Street and Allport Street, also bears her name. Mara died on October 8, 2003, at the age of 92.