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Title
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Renowned Dancer Dies At Age 88
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Description
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World famous ballet dancer Rosella Hightower died November 3, 2008, age 88, at her home in Cannes, France. "She grew up in Kansas City and went on to start one of the premier dance schools in Europe." Hightower was born in Oklahoma on January 10, 1920, with a Choctaw father and an Irish descent mother and was one of five American Indians to become world-class ballerinas. Her local dance teacher was Dorothy Perkins before she left Kansas City in 1937 to join a French troupe. After World War II she joined what is now called the American Ballet Theatre. "Reviewers always noted Hightower's lyrical movement and dramatic intensity, and the dancer credited [Vaslav] Nijinska with having the most influence on her stage presence and musicality." Includes her picture as taken in 1978.
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Date
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2008-11-09
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Object Type
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Newspaper Article
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Title
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Kansas City Women of Independent Minds
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Description
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Photo and bio of Dorothy Burrows Perkins, or Dorothy Perkins (1884-1981), a ballet teacher and native of Kansas City, with residence at 3921 Wyandotte Street and dance studio ("Dorothy Perkins Studio") at several locations. Teacher of such dancers as Rosella Hightower ("one of the greatest dancers of her time") and Ula Sharon ("who attained stardom in New York and appeared in a command performance for the king and queen of England") and "named head of the dance department at the Conservatory of Music" in 1941.
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Date
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1992
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Object Type
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Book
