Catherine Littlefield

Catherine Littlefield (1905–1951) was an American ballerina, choreographer, ballet teacher, and director.

Littlefield was born in a Philadelphia rowhouse in 1905 to James H. Littlefield and Caroline Doebele Littlefield (also known as "Mommie").

Her father was a native of Maine who worked for the YMCA and later founded a newsreel business.

Her mother was raised by her German immigrant grandmother and studied piano at a local conservatory.

In 1908, Mommie began giving three-year-old Littlefield and neighborhood children dancing lessons at a West Philadelphia YMCA.

In addition, she managed a "kiddie" opera troupe along with her husband.

Actress and singer Jeanette MacDonald and Ziegfeld Follies star Ann Pennington were members of this troupe as young girls.

As a preteen, Littlefield studied with C. Ellwood Carpenter, a third-generation member of a famous family of Philadelphia dancing masters.

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

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

After the Littlefield family moved from Philadelphia to suburban Llanerch, Mommie opened a dance studio on the second floor of the Llanerch Firehouse.

While Mommie nurtured her children's interest in music and dance, Littlefield's father encouraged their natural athleticism.

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

Both of Littlefield's parents were gregarious and fun-loving, and the family was known to be sociable and close-knit.

Littlefield had three younger siblings: Jimmie (b. 1910), Dorothie (b. 1912), and Carl (b. 1915).

At age 15, Littlefield was spotted by impresario Florenz Ziegfeld as she danced in the Philadelphia Junior League's presentation of Why Not? He offered her a role in his Broadway hit Sally, and she moved to New York to join the show in the fall of 1920.

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

In the late 1920s and early 1930s, Littlefield staged prologues and line shows at movie palaces around the city, including at the opulent Stanley and Mastbaum theaters.

During this period, she traveled to Paris almost annually to train with Russian expatriate teachers, particularly Lubov Egorova.

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

In Paris, 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.

Zelda Fitzgerald, wife of novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald, studied with Littlefield in 1927 and wrote a short story about her.

The story was never published and the manuscript was subsequently lost.

In 1932, Littlefield choreographed her first attributed work, called H.P. (Horsepower).

Composed by Carlos Chavez and designed by Mexican muralist Diego Rivera, it concerned the relationship between the United States and Mexico, a fashionable subject at the time.

It drew a glittering audience and enormous publicity but didn't fare well with the critics and was never repeated.

After a brief stint as ballet mistress at New York's Roxy Theatre, Littlefield returned home and married Philadelphia lawyer/socialite Philip Ludwell Leidy.

With Leidy's financial support, she started organizing a professional ballet troupe, which had long been a dream of hers.

She founded the Philadelphia Ballet (originally the Littlefield Ballet) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935.

It was the first American ballet company to tour Europe and the first to present a full-length (or three-act plus prologue) version of The Sleeping Beauty in the United States.

In addition to producing American-themed ballets such as Barn Dance, Terminal, Cafe Society and Ladies' Better Dresses, Littlefield choreographed Broadway musicals and Sonja Henie's professional ice skating shows.

She was among the first class of inductees (1987) into the National Museum of Dance’s Hall of Fame.

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

While in New York, she studied ballet with Luigi Albertieri and Ivan Tarasoff, becoming familiar with both Italian and Russian techniques.

While Littlefield was away, Mommie was hired to teach and stage recitals for the Philadelphia Music Club, an amateur women's musical group.

This led to her appointment as ballet mistress for the Philadelphia Civic Opera and later the Philadelphia Grand Opera.

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

She also choreographed ballets and opera divertissements under her mother's name.

By this time, Mommie's dancing studio had evolved into the full-fledged Littlefield School, and the Littlefields used their advanced students in their productions.

They also hired several men, including William Dollar, to teach and perform.