Karin Waehner

Karin Waehner (birth name Ruth Karin Margarete Wähner, 1926–1999) was a German-born dancer and choreographer who is remembered for bringing modern dance to France after settling in Paris in the early 1950s. Initially a pupil of Mary Wigman in Leipzig, she received further training in Paris from choreographers including Boris Knyazev and Jacqueline Robinson (dancer). After acquiring French nationality in 1958, she founded her own company, Les ballets contemporains Karin Waehner. She taught at the Schola Cantorum de Paris from 1960. In 1982, she ran a modern dance course in La Rochelle, the first in any French conservatory. She is remembered as an outstanding instructor, training dancers from France and abroad.