The Old "Hollywood Ballet"

[Hollywood Ballet]

I'm curious whether anyone here knows anything at all about a "Hollywood Ballet" that existed in the 1930's, apparently. There is a link to some photos of them- here

 

I'm not in any way implying that anyone here is old enough to remember them, but thought that someone with a deeper knowledge of ballet history in the Southeast (where it seems they operated) might know something. Thought it would be fun to put something about them on our website, with a link back to the photos, which are cool, almost Duncan-y. I have written to the Dunaway Gardens website manager, and will see if she has more info as well.

[Momof3darlings]

The page linked to doesn't say they operated in the Southeast but were "brought to the gardens" which are in the Southeast.

[Mel Johnson]

Two possibilities here - one is in the southeast, as the venue is listed on the Lyceum Circuit, which didn't go west of the Mississippi. It was in Hollywood, FL.

 

The second is a company which I believe was led by Carmelita Maracci, at least for a time, and was based at the Hollywood Bowl.

 

And the dance shown bears a resemblance in its center grouping to Ruth St. Denis' "Soaring".

[Hollywood Ballet]

Hollywood, Florida had occured to me. That's an actual city, right? Unlike Hollywood, California, which is actually a "district" of LA (though West Hollywood is a separate city).

 

I just Googled Carmelita Maracci, who I wasn't familiar with but having read her obit in the Times, and some other bio stuff, I think I would have loved to study with her. In "Notable American Women" the bio states that "her dances have vanished due to the ephemeral nature of her art." (kind of a sad thought, that!). The coolest article I came across about her is here: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/...,934385,00.html

 

Though I found plenty of references to her teaching in Hollywood, I haven't found any reference to what she called her company. Well, if there ever was a "Hollywood Ballet" trademark it had long since gone dead by the time we started rehearsing.