(c) 2022 Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston

Berthe Braggiotti

Florence, 1901 - 1928, Brookline

BiographyBerta (Berthe) Braggiotti
Birthdate: 1901
Death: February 16, 1928 (26-27)
Brookline, Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States (Appendicitis)
https://www.geni.com/people/Berta-Berthe-Braggiotti/6000000062226134867; accessed 1/14/2020

Braggiotti, Berthe (c. 1900–c. 1925)
Italian-American interpretive dancer. Born c. 1900 in Florence, Italy; died c. 1925 in Boston, Massachusetts; sister of Francesca and Gloria Braggiotti.

Studied with Mlle La Roche while growing up in Florence; with sisters, trained at Denishawn's summer encampment in Peterborough, New Hampshire (early 1920s); with sister Francesca, directed school in Boston, MA, while performing in Prologs there.
https://www.encyclopedia.com/women/dictionaries-thesauruses-pictures-and-press-releases/braggiotti-berthe-c-1900-c-1925; accessed 1/14/2021

Francesca Braggiotti was born in Florence, her father was an Italian tenor, born in Smyrna; her mother was an American mezzo-soprano from Boston. Both her parents were converted to Buddhism; she was the second of eight brothers and sisters, all destined for success in the arts.

She began her career as a dancer, forming the Braggiotti Sisters, a duo with her sister Berthe. The duo was an overwhelming success in Boston after World War I. Writer Alden Hatch wrote: "Two polyglot strikingly attractive and talented sisters, call Berthe and Francesca Braggiotti, were the biggest event of the Bostonian Society since Jack Gardner smoked a cigarette in public and built Fenway Court ".[2]

Francesca and her sister Berthe opened a dance studio above the barracks of the Brookline Fire Department. For a public performance sponsored by the exclusive Vincent Club, the Mayor was asked about the limits of public decency, as he had authorized their costumes for some artistic purposes, although too small to be admitted to a public beach.

The poet Amy Lowell was so enchanted that she composed an ode in honor of Francesca. Isabella Stewart Gardner asked them to a private performance at Fenway Court.[3] The dance school of Braggiotti Sisters, as well as being the most expensive and requested, first introduced dance Expressionist movement in Boston and a new vision of health and beauty.

After the untimely death of her elder sister (1928) Francesca went to work in cinema and began dubbing in Italy. She starred in Rasputin and the Empress (1932), Little Women (1933), Scipio Africanus: The Defeat of Hannibal (1937), and Tonight at Eleven (1938).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Francesca_Braggiotti; accessed 1/14/2021

https://www.geni.com/people/Berta-Berthe-Braggiotti/6000000062226134867

The Braggiotti Sisters were a duo of Italian dancers working in Boston in the twenties . It consisted of two sisters born in Florence : Berta (Berthe) Braggiotti ( Florence , 1901 - Boston , February 16, 1928 ) and Francesca Braggiotti ( Florence , October 17, 1902 - Marbella , February 25, 1998 ). His younger sister Gloria also appeared in rare performances ( Florence , 1909 - Syracuse , 2003 ).
Berta and Francesca were the first of eight brothers and sisters, all destined for success in the arts, sons of Isidoro Braggiotti, an Italian tenor born in Smirne , and Lily Schlesinger, mezzo-soprano of Boston , both converted to Buddhism . Among their brothers we remember the pianist Mario Braggiotti and the actor Herbert Braggiotti .
The eight brothers were trained in dance, music and singing by their own parents, in a large villa, with stuccoed and colorful living rooms, which dominated the Florentine hills in a panoramic position (Villa Braggiotti). In 1919, after the premature death of his mother, the whole family moved to the United States , to Boston .
Francesca and her sister Berta opened a dance studio over the Brookline Fire Brigade. For a public performance, sponsored by the exclusive Vincent Club, the mayor was asked about the limits of public decency, as he had authorized their customs for artistic purposes, despite being too small to be admitted to a public beach [1] .
The Braggiotti Sisters dance school, in addition to being the most expensive and demanding of the time, was the first to introduce the expressionist movement in Boston to Boston and a new vision of health and beauty.
The duo was an overwhelming success in the Boston after the war; Here are some reviews: "Two extraordinarily attractive and talented polyglot sisters, called Berta and Francesca Braggiotti , were the biggest event of the Bostonian society since Jack Gardner smoked a cigarette in public and built the Fenway Court" [2] .
After the premature death of her older sister (1928), Francesca went to the cinema and dubbing. The Braggiotti Sisters dance school was briefly directed by her younger sister Gloria, who later left the business to become a successful photographer and writer. In one of his most widely circulated books [3] , Gloria Braggiotti described the adolescent years spent in the family in the Florentine villa.
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Braggiotti_Sisters

Person TypeIndividual

Last Updated8/7/24

Terms