Marjorie Greenblatt () was born in
Atlantic City,
New Jersey, United States, on October 6, 1917, to
Aliza Waitzman and Izadore Greenblatt. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Ukraine. She had three brothers - David, Herbert and Bernard - and one sister, Gertrude. In 1935, after graduation from the
Overbrook High School in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Marjorie moved to New York City on scholarship and joined the
Martha Graham Dance Company. As a core company member, Marjorie appeared in such iconic pieces as "
Primitive Mysteries", "American Document", "Every Soul is a Circus", and "
Appalachian Spring". She grew to become Graham's assistant for fifteen years and was the first company member invited to teach the Graham technique independently of Martha's own school. Two of Marjorie's early students were
Erick Hawkins and
Merce Cunningham.
Woody Guthrie Mazia was introduced to Guthrie in 1940 through her activity as a Martha Graham dancer. According to the Marjorie Guthrie Project: Mazia and Guthrie wed on November 13, 1945.
Majorie Mazia School of Dance Mazia founded the Marjorie Mazia School of Dance, located at 1618 Sheepshead Bay Road,
Brooklyn, New York. Thanks to her years with the Martha Graham Dance Company, she often had special guest dance teachers like Merce Cunningham. Marjorie's school trained young dancers in Modern Dance and Ballet in the 1950s, '60s and '70s. In 1950, Mazia recorded,
Dance Along on
Folkways Records, a dance album for children. She is extensively cited in the book,
Outwitting History by
National Yiddish Book Center founder/director
Aaron Lansky.
Husband's illness By the late 1940s, Guthrie's health was declining. He received various misdiagnoses, but in 1952, it was finally determined that he was suffering from
Huntington's disease. During the more than 15 years that the disease affected him, Marjorie stood by his side as she supervised Woody's hospital care. She even taught him to communicate by blinking his eyes after he had lost control of his other muscles. Though she was Guthrie's second wife (of three) they maintained a close relationship throughout his life and she provided constant care to Guthrie until his death. Following his death in 1967, she founded the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease. Marjorie headed a Federal commission for control of the disease in 1976 and 1977 and convinced President
Jimmy Carter to form a Presidential Commission to study neurological diseases, including Huntington's. In 1975, she married Martin B. Stein, who was vice president of the Committee to Combat Huntington's Disease. She died of cancer on March 13, 1983, in Manhattan, where she lived, aged 65. ==References==