March: Celebrating Women in Dance
A small selection of inspiring dancers born in March as part of Women’s History Month
Born March 3, modern dancer pioneer Hanya Holm (1893-1992) is considered one of the “Big Four” founders of American Modern Dance, along with Martha Graham (1894-1991), Doris Humphrey (1895-1958), and Charles Weidman (1901-1975), and her choreographic gifts were diverse. Besides creating groundbreaking modern dances, including Trend (1937) a piece about authoritarianism, she is also known in the musical theatre world for her choreography of original Broadway productions including Kiss Me Kate (1948), My Fair Lady (1956) and Camelot (1960).
Hanya Holm
Ballerina Janet Collins (1917-2003), born March 7, was the cousin of modern dancer Carmen de Lavallade (1931-) and studied with ballet dancer Adolph Bolm (1884-1951) and modern dancer Lester Horton (1906-1953) - two of a very few teachers who would accept black students at the time. Collins was accepted to dance with the prestigious Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, but she refused their request to paint her skin lighter and declined to perform with the company. Instead she performed with Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) for a time. After seeing her performance on Broadway in Out of This World (1950), Collins was invited to perform for the Metropolitan Opera ballet, the first black ballerina to do so. She later taught at the School of American Ballet and at Marymount Manhattan College and retired from teaching and dancing in the mid-1970s.
Janet Collins
The slinkiest dancer who ever lived is the incomparable Cyd Charisse (1922-2008), born March 8. After recovering from polio as a child, Charisse studied ballet and danced with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and joined the Freed Unit at MGM, making appearances in musicals during the 1940s. However, it was not until the early 1950s that she began starring in larger films, dancing with Gene Kelly (1912-1996) in Singin’ in the Rain (1952) and with Fred Astaire (1899-1987) in The Band Wagon (1953) - widely considered to be two of the best musicals produced during the “Golden Age” of movie musicals (1930s-1950s). Charisse retired from dancing by the end of the decade and had her Broadway debut in 1992, starring in Grand Hotel, choreographed by fellow Texan Tommy Tune (1939-).
Cyd Charisse
The daughter of Judy Garland (1922-1969) and film director Vicente Minnelli, Liza Minnelli (1946-), born March 12, became a star in her own right, most notably in Cabaret (1972), directed/choreographed by Bob Fosse (1927-1987) and in the award-winning TV production Liza with a ‘Z’ (1972). She famously replaced Gwen Verdon (1925-2000) briefly in the original Broadway production of Chicago (1975) and Julie Andrews (1935-) in the original Broadway production of Victor/Victoria (1995). Minnelli used daily dance lessons to help her recover from a serious illness in 2000, and began performing again the following year.
Liza Minnelli
American-born Irish step dancer Jean Butler (March 14, 1971-) is best known for originating the lead female role in the stage show Riverdance (1995). Butler began studying Irish dance seriously at the age of nine and won competitions and championships throughout her youth and later toured with musical group The Chieftains. She, along with co-choreographer Michael Flatley (1958-), performed a short piece entitled Riverdance during the 1994 Eurovision Song Contest. The dance was a raging success and was immediately lengthened into a full-length show of the same name, which toured internationally for several years and resulted in a resurgence of interest in Irish dance.
Jean Butler
Ballerina, producer, and dance advocate Ruth Page (1899-1991), born March 22, danced with the original Ballets Russes, the Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo, with Anna Pavlova (1881-1931), and on Broadway before settling in Chicago as her home base in 1925. She founded several companies, including the Chicago Opera Ballet (1956-1970) and began producing an annual holiday Nutcracker ballet starting in 1965, which continued until 1997. Page can be credited with creating a supportive environment for dance in the city of Chicago and giving the city an international cachet by commissioning a young George Balanchine (1904-1983) to create a piece for her - Polka Mélancholique (1925). She also gave sculptor Isamu Noguchi and composer Aaron Copeland their first dance commissions. Page also embraced modern dance and Afro-Caribbean dance, giving a young Katherine Dunham (1909-2006) her start. Fresh from defecting from the Soviet Union in 1962, Rudolph Nureyev (1938-1993) made his first US appearance with Page’s company in New York City.
Ruth Page
Born March 29, ballerina and Hollywood musical dancer Diana Adams (1926-1993) performed with ABT in the 1940s and with NYCB from 1950-1963, creating roles in some of the best known ballets by George Balanchine 1904-1983), including Western Symphony (1954) and Stars and Stripes (1958). Perhaps her most noteworthy pairing was in the pas de deux section of Balanchine’s Agon (1957), partnering with Arthur Mitchell (1934-2018) in an interracial duet - a groundbreaking feat rarely seen onstage at the time. Adams also appeared in the original stage production of Oklahoma! (1943), choreographed by Agnes de Mille (1905-1993) and in the movie Invitation to the Dance (1956), directed by Gene Kelly (1912-1996).
