Kaj Lothmann

Caj Lottman (Selling) (1935-2005)

Born in Stockholm to Jewish refugees from Poland. At age 13, he started studying at the Royal Swedish Ballet (RSB) School in Stockholm and upon graduating, joined the RSB Company. In 1958, he went on a tour in the Soviet Union with dancer Marianne Orlando, and in 1959 rejoined the company, where he danced as a solo until 1969. In 1960, he took a six-month training course at the Kirov Ballet in Leningrad, today The Mariinsky un Saint Petersburg, with Alexander Pushkin. After returning to Stockholm again, he left for New York in 1961, where he was a guest dancer at the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) until 1962. In 1962-63 he danced in the Australian Ballet under Peggy van Praagh. Until 1967, he moved between Europe, New York and Australia, and danced alternately with ABT, the Australian Ballet and the RSB.

Lottman visited Israel for a short period in 1964, and in 1968 decided to immigrate here following his friend Lia Schubert, founder and manager of the Balettakademien Stockholm, who had come here a year earlier. With the help of his severance pay from RSB, Lottman and Schubert founded the Dance Art Institute in Rothschild House, Haifa, which housed a school and a company, as well as the Haifa Piccolo Ballet, which was active for a brief while. The school achieved professional success among dancers and teachers from Israel and worldwide, including Kenneth Gustafason, Gene Hill Sagan, Linda Rabin, Jeff Phillips, Linda Hodes and Ehud Ben-David.

In 1971, Lottman was invited to teach ballet in Batsheva. In 1973, after Linda Rabin’s resignation, he was appointed as the company’s rehearsal manager. He held that position until 1974, when he replaced William Louther as the company’s artistic director. During his first year in this capacity, he codirected with Linda Hodes, and then became Batsheva’s only artistic director until 1977. During his period as Batsheva’s director, Anna Sokolow, Oshra Elkayam Ronen, John Butler and Martha Graham were invited to choreograph for the company. The latter choreographed her only original piece for the company – Dream. Lottman served as Batsheva’s artistic director during the critical time when it moved from Batsheva de Rothschild’s sponsorship to being an independent company supported by the Ministry of Education and Culture and the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
After retiring from Batsheva, Lottman taught in the Kibbutz Troupe in Ga’aton, at the Bat-Dor School and the Haifa Dance Center. In 1984, Schubert left Israel, and Lottman moved back to Haifa to manage the Dance Center, where he remained until its closure in 1998.

Caj Lottman passed away in 2005.