My "Pajama Game" in New York

Dancers from Branson, Missouri who performed in Snow Queen at the Grand Palace with the Royale Dance Theatre

            I was fourteen years old when my stunning and talented blonde, blue-eyed ballet and tap teacher introduced me to a world of skyscrapers, crowded sidewalks and Stanley’s dance studio, the latter being the real reason we came. We carried too much luggage from hot train stations into taxis and stayed at fifteenth floors in large hotels in the hottest week of the year - the middle of July!  I walked around for days with my head bent back at ninety degrees.  So everyone knew I was a tourist – who cared, the view was unbelievable! 

            Jack Stanly had the best of the best – he himself was the “hottest” tap teacher around – everyone knew that, and the faculty was none other than Broadway’s well-known choreographers, ballet masters, gymnasts and wonder of wonders, Paco Cansino, Rita Hayworth’s uncle.  (Anyone who doesn’t know Rita is missing one of the amazing women of Hollywood’s history).  We started at nine am and danced all day long, class after class with dripping faces, sopping leotards and tights, dirt-covered legs from jazz classes in filthy attic rooms, and unbridled joy on our faces knowing we were “neck-to- neck” with Broadway stars, Rockettes, stage and screen choreographers and dancers and a few talent scouts peeking in from time to time.

            After seeing my first musical, I never missed another Rodgers and Hammerstein and all the rest of the shows on the Great White Way, never realizing that I would someday have the privilege of choreographing these very same Broadway shows at West Seneca Sr. High for thousands of students and my very own children. New York City was, and still is one of the most exciting places in the world.  It’s no wonder Jackie O, who could afford anything chose this above all other places to live.  New York is not just a “big apple”, it’s a “huge apple”, and for a young dancer with stars in her eyes, it is heaven handed on a plate, so I returned, year after year to study with the best, not only at Stanley’s but the National Academy of Ballet where Thalia Mara at sixteen, had learned the authentic Kirov syllabus from ballerinas who escaped during the Bolshevik revolution. What a heritage, and now, at nineteen, all this brought about a life-changing decision.

            The famous Broadway choreographer, Danny Daniels who had just finished “Pajama Game”, was giving me private lessons.  Teaching me “American in Paris”, a lyrical jazz/ballet solo. He stated that I would be able to perform in a Broadway show if I stayed in New York and studied daily.  He was offering me a job – I would be a “Broadway baby” (as made famous in the “Lullaby of”) and someday – possibly have my name in lights (oh what a dreamer)! What a choice – stay or return home to a life of someday wife, mother, normal everyday person or immersion into the “Pajama Games” of glamour. 

            There was no choice.  Four years of inspiration from the good nuns at Nardin Academy filled my spirit with the decision of lofty ideals.  I knew I was nothing but a possible lamb ready for the slaughter of immorality in this world of theater – as exciting as it may have seemed.  I wasn’t strong enough to fight off the wolves of a competitive and “dog-eat-dog” world.  It was different for the men- Michael, Daniel, former dance friends all “made-it” into musicals and movies without compromising ideals, but it was different for young women.  We were sometimes fodder for theatrical vultures.

            I gave up the stage and started my first of five studios, thinking the opportunity for stardom would never come again.  I would lead others to this end, and I did, with warnings of the “value of their soul” as more important than a climb to the top.  My students went beyond anything I ever dreamed of – they were the climbers, prima ballerinas, Hollywood choreographers, faculty professors, and I happily held the ladder.

            Recently, on the movie channel, I saw a film choreographed by none other than Danny Daniels, my former teacher.  When studying at Stanley’s, there was one most remarkable dancer named Helen Wood who was absolutely amazing.  I thought, perhaps Mr.D would have hired Helen for this movie.  After scanning the credits, I saw it – yes, it was Helen Wood as one of the dancers.  Too bad they were representing badly trained misfits of the 20’s.  Helen’s real talents were certainly not represented but one must follow the script. Better Helen than me, I thought.  They looked awful.

            Years later, in Branson Missouri where I had been asked to produce and present my “Snow Queen” dance drama, I looked at a Marquee in lights announcing Bernadine De Mike as director of the Royale Dance Theatre.  I don’t think I would have ever seen this on Broadway.  God has a way of “paying back” what we give Him for the sake of saving our souls for His glory.  He also has a sense of humor!