Maria Ley-Piscator

Maria Ley-Piscator (born Friederike Flora Czada, 1 August 1898 – 14 October 1999) was an Austrian-American dancer and choreographer.

Born on 1 August 1898 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary (now Austria), Maria Ley sought to create a theatrical career for herself as a dancer in Paris and Berlin.

Later, she turned to choreography and helped in several stage productions with Max Reinhardt, including A Midsummer Night's Dream.

After marrying in Paris, the couple moved to Manhattan in 1939, where they founded the Dramatic Workshop at the New School for Social Research.

Ley-Piscator lived at 17 East 76th Street, sometimes called the Piscator House, where Erwin and she had made a home prior to his return to Europe in the 1950s.