Eva Allen Alberti (April 4, 1856 – March 6, 1938) was an American dramatics teacher who specialized in the American meaning of pantomime i.e.

mime Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions (MIME) is an Internet standard that extends the format of email messages to support text in character sets other than ASCII, as well as attachments of audio, video, images, and application programs. Messa ...

. Her students were actors, teachers, directors and producers including, Prof. Gertrude Colby,

Jane Cowl Jane Cowl (December 14, 1883 – June 22, 1950) was an American film and stage actress and playwright "notorious for playing lachrymose parts". Actress Jane Russell was named in Cowl's honor. Biography Cowl was born Jane Bailey in Boston, M ...

, Cecil B. DeMille,

William C. deMille William Churchill deMille (July 25, 1878 – March 5, 1955), also spelled de Mille or De Mille, was an American screenwriter and film director from the silent film era through the early 1930s. He was also a noted playwright prior to moving into ...

Ann Harding Ann Harding (born Dorothy Walton Gatley; August 7, 1902 – September 1, 1981) was an American theatre, motion picture, radio, and television actress. A regular player on Broadway and in regional theater in the 1920s, in the 1930s Harding was ...

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, Douglas MacLean,

Guthrie McClintic Guthrie McClintic (August 6, 1893 – October 29, 1961) was an American theatre director, film director, and producer based in New York. Life and career McClintic was born in Seattle, attended Washington University and New York's American Academ ...

William Powell William Horatio Powell (July 29, 1892 – March 5, 1984) was an American actor. A major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the '' Thin Man'' series based on the Nick and Nora Charles characters crea ...

, Edward G. Robinson, Anita Stewart, Stuart Walker, and Chester M. Wallace.

Early life and education

Evangel Eva Allen was born in

Alfred, New York Alfred is a town in Allegany County, New York, United States. The population was 4,896 at the 2020 census. The Town of Alfred has a village named Alfred in the center of the town. Alfred University and Alfred State College are located in ...

, April 4, 1856. Her father was Jonathan Macomber Allen (1823-1892), president of

Alfred University Alfred University is a private university in Alfred, New York. It has a total undergraduate population of approximately 1,600 students. The university hosts the New York State College of Ceramics, which includes The Inamori School of Engineerin ...

. Abigail Ann (Maxson) Allen (1824-1894). Her siblings were William (b. 1853), May (b. 1860), and Alfred (b. 1866). She was educated at Alfred University (A. B., 1877; A. M., 1879).

Career

For thirteen years, Alberti was a lecturer at

Teachers College, Columbia University Teachers College, Columbia University (TC), is the graduate school of education, health, and psychology of Columbia University, a private research university in New York City. Founded in 1887, it has served as one of the official faculties a ...

. She was the president of the New York College of Expression, and the director of the Young People's Theater in Carnegie Hall,

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. The greatest novelty of the plans for the Young People's Theater carried out by Alberti was the presentation of complete grand opera in mime with appropriate instrumental music. The Alberti Pantomimes, it was claimed, used a more universal code of gesticulation than the French, Italian, or German. American pantomime, such as that developed under the hand of Alberti, became a finer art than that represented by the garish musical Christmas pantomimes of Britain,Reid-Walsh, Jacqueline. "Pantomime", ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature'', Jack Zipes (ed.), Oxford University Press (2006), the distinction includes less cross-dressing, risque jokes and greater individual quality, in daintiness of movement, and delicacy of facial expression. She made a speciality of Greek sacred dances.

Personal life

In 1879, she married Prof. William Maxson Alberti, the son of Thomas Shipley Alberti, who became clerk of the Seventh Day Baptist Church. Eva Allen Alberti died in

, March 6, 1938, at the age of 82.

Selected works

Books

* ''A handbook of acting'' (1932)

Dramatic compositions

* ''A Midsummer night's dream'' (1925)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alberti, Eva Allen 1838 births 1938 deaths Drama teachers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 20th-century American women writers Educators from New York City People from Alfred, New York People from New York City Alfred University alumni Teachers College, Columbia University faculty 19th-century American educators 20th-century American educators