For 101-Year-Old Vija Vetra, Dance Is a Symbol of Life Itself
“Dance is the art of movement, and therefore anything that is moving, breathing, growing, or feeling is part of the dance,” says Vija Vetra, a 101-year-old Latvian-born dancer, choreographer, teacher, and lecturer who first earned acclaim as an Indian classical and modern dancer in the mid-20th century. Vetra’s passion for her art has taken her around the world, and it’s just only recently that she’s begun to slow down.
Born in Riga on February 6, 1923, Vetra recalls seeing a performance of Swan Lake at age 5 and instantly falling in love. At 16, she left home to train at the Vienna Academy (now the University of Music and Performing Arts Vienna), where her instructors included modern dance legend Rosalia Chladek. In Vienna, Vetra studied ballet, modern, and various character-dance styles, as well as music, anatomy, and psychology.
World War II forced Vetra to leave Austria. Because Latvia was now occupied territory, Vetra spent several years as a war refugee. She eventually immigrated to Australia, where she joined Bodenwieser Ballet, under the direction of modern dancer and choreographer Gertrud Bodenwieser (a fellow émigré from Europe). Vetra later struck out on her own as an independent performer and opened her own school. She also danced in many Australian theater productions and even had her own television program, “Music and Dance,” in 1959.
It was through theater that Vetra encountered the dance style that would become her lifelong passion. “A director asked me to create an Indian dance for a play about the life of Buddha,” she says. “I’d never studied Indian dance, but I’d always been very interested in it.” Because there were no Indian classical dance masters in Australia at the time, Vetra immersed herself in the culture’s art and sculptures, carefully studying the poses. She also read the book Indian Dancing, by Ram Gopal, a London-based performer and choreographer. “I called him my ‘guru in absentia,’ ” Vetra says, adding that in a full-circle moment, she was later able to perform with Gopal and his dance company on tour.
Although she was self-taught, Vetra was so convincing that a group of Indian audience members believed her to be from their country and encouraged her to create more Indian dances. Soon, the Indian embassy took an interest in Vetra’s work; the ambassador’s patronage led to an invitation to travel to India. On what became her first of three trips, Vetra was finally able to train with a guru in person. “He was so surprised at what I already knew,” she says, “but of course I still had much to learn.”
As her knowledge and experience grew, Vetra began incorporating Indian classical dance into her own performances. She describes her shows as “East meets West”—a nod to various Indian dignitaries’ description of Vetra herself as “a bridge between East and West.” “I started each show with dances of India,” she says, “and then moved to modern dance, performing my own choreography.” It was in the East, however, where she felt most at home: “When I do Indian dance, I feel that I come back to my true self.”
While on a coast-to-coast tour of the U.S. and Canada in 1964, Vetra was offered several teaching opportunities. She decided to stay in the U.S. and soon opened her own studio in New York City. Ever eager to broaden her horizons, Vetra also trained with Martha Graham and José Limón. “I wanted to understand American modern dance,” she explains, “because the European style was quite different.”
Vetra continued to tour the world as a performer and choreographer. When Latvia regained its independence, she was able to visit home for the first time in decades. Starting in 1990, she traveled there annually to perform and teach. In 1999, she was awarded the Order of the Three Stars, Latvia’s highest civilian honor. In celebration of her 100th birthday in 2023, Vetra starred in a two-hour dance performance in Latvia. Unfortunately, health concerns rendered her unable to visit in 2024.
Within the U.S., Vetra has been on faculty, taught master classes, and given lectures at numerous colleges and universities. She was a member of the Dance Teacher’s Guild (now the American Dance Guild) and the now-defunct Congress on Research in Dance (CORD). She still teaches a weekly movement class for seniors at Westbeth Artists Housing in Manhattan’s West Village, where she’s lived and worked since 1970.
As she approaches her 102nd birthday, Vetra hopes to be remembered not only for her illustrious stage career but also for her work as an educator who helps students discover their unique artistic voices. “When I teach, I always underline the creativity within dance,” she says. “It’s important for every dancer to find a way of self-expression, rather than squeezing into the form of someone else. It’s a special delight to watch students developing and becoming. The act of becoming is beautiful.”
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“Dance is the art of movement, and therefore anything that is moving, breathing, growing, or feeling is part of the dance,” says Vija Vetra, a 101-year-old Latvian-born dancer, choreographer, teacher, and lecturer who first earned acclaim as an Indian classical and modern dancer in the mid-20th century. Vetra’s passion for her art has taken her…