31 Facts About Catherine Littlefield

Catherine Littlefield was an American ballet dancer, choreographer, ballet teacher, and director.

Catherine Littlefield founded the Philadelphia Ballet in Philadelphia in 1935.

Catherine Littlefield was among the first class of inductees into the National Museum of Dance and Hall of Fame.

Catherine Littlefield's father was a native of Maine who worked for the YMCA and later founded a newsreel business.

Catherine Littlefield's mother was raised by her German immigrant grandmother and studied piano at a local conservatory.

Under Carpenter's tutelage, Catherine Littlefield performed in stand-alone ballets and semi-professional opera performances.

Carpenter had a studio on the Ocean City, New Jersey, boardwalk, and Catherine Littlefield took classes with him there during summers when her father worked as a lifeguard.

Catherine Littlefield taught them horsemanship and acrobatic stunts, and coached Carl in long-distance swimming.

Catherine Littlefield danced in various Ziegfeld productions for the next five years, eventually assuming solo roles and even a singing part.

Catherine Littlefield appeared in the Follies, Annie Dear, and Louie the 14th.

Catherine Littlefield returned to Philadelphia from New York to dance lead roles for her mother.

Catherine Littlefield choreographed ballets and opera divertissements under her mother's name.

Mommie and Catherine Littlefield's sister, Dorothie, who was a dancer, often accompanied her.

In Paris, Catherine Littlefield became friendly with Lucienne Lamballe, the etoile of the Paris Opera ballet, and George Balanchine, the Russian choreographer and eventual founder of the New York City Ballet.

The Catherine Littlefield Ballet gave its inaugural performance at Haverford High School on October 25,1935.

Two months later, Catherine Littlefield changed the company's name to the Philadelphia Ballet.

Catherine Littlefield served as its director, choreographer, and premiere danseuse, while Dorothie and Littlefield's brother Carl, who had been convinced by Mommie to learn dancing, joined as soloists.

Catherine Littlefield was an excellent ballerina herself, known for her clean unmannered style.

Catherine Littlefield disbanded soon after the attack on Pearl Harbor, when many of Littlefield's male dancers enlisted in the American military.

Toward the end of her life, Catherine Littlefield entered the field of television, staging skits for Jimmy Durante's Four-Star Revue, a variety show broadcast live by NBC.

Catherine Littlefield saw a future for herself in the burgeoning television industry as well as in directing and producing on Broadway, but cancer took her life prematurely at age 46.

Catherine Littlefield was musically adept, able to read scores and conduct orchestras during rehearsals when necessary.

Catherine Littlefield was politically conservative, unlike many of her colleagues in the dance world.

Catherine Littlefield was a Francophile and could speak French fluently.

Catherine Littlefield later married a Philadelphia widow and moved with her to a farm on the Potomac River near Montross, Virginia.

Catherine Littlefield bought a bungalow nearby and the extended family often retreated to the area to be together and relax.

Catherine Littlefield later married Lois Girard, had three children, and moved to California to work in the airline industry.

Catherine Littlefield's father had died in 1934, while Mommie died in 1957 at age 75, having outlived three of her four children.

Catherine Littlefield had developed a progressive neurological disease that necessitated a wheelchair and didn't want his ambitious wife to feel obligated to nurse him.

In 1947, Catherine Littlefield married Sterling Noel, a newspaper editor and novelist, whose most successful book was entitled I Killed Stalin.

The performance combined the Ferde Grofe ballet music Catherine Littlefield had commissioned with critic Ann Barzel's film footage and still photographs.