Cynthia Mittweg is a famous American playwright. She has written over forty plays, more than half of which are revival pieces. Her style and technique are rooted in her native Netherlands, where she spent much of her life as a professional dancer. Her theater work spanned many decades but her most notable play was Nocturnal. Her career spanned the entire length of the twentieth century up to the early sixties, where she concentrated on screenplays rather than acting.
This article will discuss the question “Was women’s tallness connected to their professional careers” and whether that is an appropriate question to ask. Some might argue that the height difference between Mittweg and fellow Dutch dancer Madeline Lease was the consequence of an underlying attraction to the arts. However, there are several facts to consider that do not support this theory. First, many of the greatest classical players were quite short. It is hard to imagine that Sophocles or Euripides ever felt that they were short. In light of this, it seems reasonable to conclude that physical stature had little to do with a woman’s success as a performer.
Another piece of evidence that suggests a link between height and profession is the fact that many famous women musicians were known as tall. Examples include pianist Irina Pavlov, French composer composers Courreges and Camille Saint-Saens and Viennese violinist Carl Orff. These examples do not support the claim that height was a factor in the success of any given woman musician throughout history.