Margot Fonteyn, whom was originally named Margaret Hookham, was born on May 18th, 1919 in Reigate, Surrey, England. She had an English father and an Irish/ Brazilian mother. They placed her in her first ballet class at the early age of four, along with her older brother. At the age of eight, she moved to Hong Kong, China. There, she was under the training of a Russian ballet teacher; George Goncharov. She lived in China for six years until she returned to London at the age of fourteen. She had to move back in order to pursue a career in ballet. Post return, Margot joined the Vic Wells Ballet School, now known as the Royal Ballet School. The following year of her enrollment, a principal lead dancer; Alicia Markova left the company. This gave Margot an opportunity to take principal roles that were left vacant. Some of them being Giselle, Swan Lake, and Sleeping Beauty. Margot also developed fantastic dance partnerships with multiple people during her career. Margot and dancer Robert Helpmann successfully toured for several years. In the 1950's, Margot also danced with Michael Somes. Although both partnerships were wonderful and …show more content…
Roberto Arias. He was a Panamanian diplomat to London. A coup of the Panamanian government happened, causing Margot to be arrested for her involvement. Unfortunately, in 1964, Dr.Arias was shot, making his quadriplegic for the remainder of his life. Due to his medical bills, Margot did not enter retirement until 1979, at the age of 60 years old. But even though she was retired, when her husband passed, the Royal Ballet School help a fund raising gala for her benefit. Unfortunately, Margot was later diagnosed with cancer, which took her life on February 21st, 1991. Margot passed, fighting a hard fight in Panama City, Panama. Although cancer took her body, her dancing spirit and accomplishments still remain very known in today's world of
Shirley Temple was born on April 23, 1928, in Santa Monica, California at 9:00 p.m - a time significant to her because it told her she would always have a bit of catching up to do if she wanted to be on time for dinner (Black 5). As the youngest child and only girl in her family of five, she was her mother’s pride and joy. She had two supportive parents, Gertrude and George, and two older brothers, Jack and George Junior. Gertrude Temple was a stay-at-home mom while George went to work as a bank teller, which played in Shirley’s favor when she needed someone to manage her money later in life (Blashfield 55). Gertrude Temple has been called the first stage mother (Blashfield 22) for good reason. Shirley Temple was acting before she could read, so her mother helped her memorize her lines. Temple’s mother served as her private costume designer, and never failed to make the young star’s performance her best yet, by encouraging her to “Sparkle, Shirley Sparkle!” (David 2).
In “Lydia’s Story,” nurse Jan Brideau describes the tragedies of Hurricane Katrina. The author elaborates how countless people had the hope and determination in the face of terrible adversity. The story stresses the importance of keeping your thoughts in a positive mindset, but also shows the reader that moving forward is only half the battle, and sharing your story to others finishes the fight. The tragedy of Hurricane Katrina is remembered from the survivors who never lost hope.
Lotta Crabtree was born in New York in 1847, where she spent her first few years living, before moving to Southern California. With her parents Mary Ann Crabtree a upholsterer, furniture industry, and John Ashworth Crabtree a bookseller. Her Family was attracted by the gold rush and they moved so that they could be closer to it. Her father was the first to leave in search for gold in 1851 and Lotta and her mother moved soon after. In 1852 Lotta and her mother moved to California San Francisco for the race for gold. They weren't the richest family so they moved in with their friends that had been living there.Marry encouraged her daughter Lotta to begin dancing right away and enrolled her in dance classes at a very young age. Lotta Crabtree loved acting and performing for people while she was only a 6 year old girl. The Gold rush attracted lots of people to San francisco and that gave her a chance to perform in front of a huge audience. She danced for them and they threw nuggets and coins at her for her amazing dancing. People were throwing money at her like it was nothing and she was only 6 years old. She earned about 400 dollars per show which is an astonishing amount. Her mother collected her earnings and stored them away.This was only the beginning of Lotta Crabtree’s dancing and theater career.
Katherine Dunham not only significantly contributed to the rise of modern dance, but she was also a pioneer in the field of dance anthropology; and a staunch political and social activist. Dunham was born in Chicago, Illinois and primarily raised in nearby Joliet, Illinois. Dunham first became interested in dance when she was a teenager and trained with Ludmilla Speranzeva, formerly of the Moscow Theatre, Vera Mirova, Mark Turbyfill and Ruth Page in Chicago before and during her college education. She even started her own private dance school, Ballet Négre, in 1930, while at the University of Chicago where she first began to cultivate her own technique that would change modern dance.
In 1929, Eleanor made her Broadway debut in Follow Thru. After being in a Broadway show, her stardom kept rising until she made it to Hollywood. In 1935 she appeared in her first movie, George White's 'Scandals of 1935'.From then on, she just got more and more successful. One of her more memorable performances was in ‘Broadway Melody in 1940’ dancing alongside Fred Astaire to “Begin the Beguine’.
Caroline Phelps provides an insightful look into the changing face of America including: The changing American economy, the prominence of the American Fur Company, and a shift in white and Indian relations. The years of Caroline Phelps’ life are some of the most significant years of our countries existence. There were many revolutionary modifications to our country and through this journal we can get a clear perspective of life in the mid 1800’s.
St. Denis's professional career began in 1892. In New York City, she worked as a skirt dancer in dime museums and vaudeville houses. "Dime museums featured "leg dancers" (female dancers whose legs were visible under their short skirts) in brief dance routines."# In that type of atmosphere, St. Denis was worked to the bone and forced to perform her routine at least ten times a day. However, in 1898, David Belasco noticed the young Ruth during one of her vaudeville performances. Belasco was a very successful and well known Broadway producer and director. He hired Ruth to perform as a dancer in his company. He was also responsible for giving her the stage name "St. Denis." The popularity of Ruth St. Denis exploded in the United States and Europe as she toured with his production of "Zaza." During her touring, she was introduced to many influential artists, such as Japanese Dancer Sado Yacco and English actress Sarah Bernhardt.
She went to Michael's Primary School before she went to Wyedean School and College. She later went to the University of Exeter for Ba in french and Classics. After she
"Giselle" is a romantic ballet choreographed by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. Adolphe Adam beautifully composes the music. This ballet was originally performed in Paris in 1841. The production that we viewed in class was from La Salla. "Giselle" is one of the last ballets of the Romantic era.
Fanny, was born in Katrinosalov, Russia which is now part of Ukraine on December 28, 1904. When she was still and infant, her family immigrated to Canada. This move caused many problems for her to overcome in her younger years. She had to overcome finical challenges as well as challenges due to her Jewish religion. A major challenge she faced growing up was simply that she was a female athlete. This would plague her most of her life, however she
Mary Breckenridge, born in 1881 was privileged with a good childhood and education in the United States and Europe. Her family traveled consistently with her father as a States Ambassador to Russia, which gave her a lot of experience to many different cultures. Renowned private tutors taught Mary and that is how she received most of her education as a child.
... ballet teacher. In fact, when Cuban ballet is discussed, her name is always associated with it. Her ballet skills and ability has credited the country with high respect and approval. Alicia has formed the Ballet Alicia Alonso which was renamed in 1955 to Ballet de Cuba and Ballet Nacional de Cuba in 1959. “Its ballet school earned admiration for the quality of its training and recruiting system. Ballet is still very popular in Cuba and can be admired almost daily in the countries capital, Havana.” (cuban-culture.com).
The fine art of modern dance is like many other fields in that it is based on the actions and deeds of those who were pioneers in the field. These pioneers helped to mold modern dance into what it is today. Of the many people who are partially responsible for this accomplishment is Isadora Duncan. Duncan, often referred to as the “mother of modern dance,” inspired many other dancers to the extent that the art of dance would not be the same today without her many contributions.
was born in Vienna, Austria in 1909, where she lived with her parents until the
The Sleeping Beauty by Tchaikovsky is another ballet that is based on a fairy tale, and was first presented to the Tsar of Russia.