Helen Lewis MBE was a pioneer of modern dance in Northern Ireland, and made her name as a dance teacher and choreographer.
She was born in Trutnov, Czechoslovakia, in 1916, and attended Milča Mayerová’s School of Dance in Prague after leaving school. In 1942 she was deported to the Jewish Ghetto in Terezin with her husband Paul. From there, they were sent to Auschwitz and separated. Paul was later to die in Schwarzheide concentration camp, while Helen was eventually sent to Stutthof in northern Poland. After the liberation she returned to Prague and met up with Harry, an old friend whose family had emigrated to Belfast. They married in 1947, and lived in Belfast, where they had two sons, Michael and Robin.[1]
Helen began teaching modern dance and choreographing for theatre and opera, and was a founder member of the Belfast Modern Dance Group.
In 1992 she wrote a book about her experiences before and during the war (A Time To Speak, ISBN 0786704861), which was adapted by Sam McCready as a play and performed at the Lyric Theatre in Belfast. In 2001 she was awarded an MBE for her services to contemporary dance.[2] Helen died on 31 December 2009.[3]