Dance in the Sunday Herald Tribune

In its dance section the Sunday Herald Tribune had an illustration of “tiny” Alicia Alonso perched on the sturdy form of Andre Eglevsky in Ballet Theatre's latest dance presentation. The Cuban-born Alonso, who had been attracting critical attention for several years, was promoted to principal dancer with the company in 1946 where she thrilled audiences despite her partial blindness from a detached retina that had not healed properly after several operations. She depended greatly on her partners and stage lighting to guide her movements on the stage. Eglevsky left Ballet Theatre (the forerunner of the ABT) later in 1946.

In his dance column Walter Terry wrote of the importance of dance education. He recounted an experience he had when he was serving in the Army in Egypt. He was asked to give a lecture to the Allied troops on “American Experimental Dance.” He found that most of those who attended thought this meant the jitterbug. Even the Americans among them thought American dance was limited to tap and ballroom and that all other forms were foreign imports.

He clarified that when he spoke of dance education he did not mean the neighborhood tap schools that taught a few steps to children so they could get decked out in gauze and sequins and put on a recital. What he was talking about was a vigorous curriculum as offered at a handful of schools. One of the best was Vassar. He recently had attended a student performance and had been impressed.

Terry, about to turn 33, had studied dance with many of the greats of the era. He was one of the principal proponents of modern dance as well as one of the most influential dance writers and critics of the time.

The paper also had a column of dance notes on upcoming performances. These have all been mentioned elsewhere (see the Sunday Times dance section).