June 3
Born Today:
Josephine Baker
The ebullient Josephine Baker (1906-1975) began her career in New York City as a chorus girl, dancing in the Broadway show Shuffle Along (1921) and garnered attention for her comic antics as the last performer in the line to exit the stage. She sailed to Paris as a rising star in 1925 and she became a sensation for her Danse Sauvage act, wearing only a string of artificial bananas as a skirt. She also owned a pet cheetah, who would often join her onstage. Baker remained in France during WWII and as a world-famous entertainer, she was able to secretly gather critical information for the Allied cause at parties and gatherings from unsuspecting officials, a covert activity for which she was awarded several war service medals.
Also Born Today: Ballet dancer Boris Skibine (1876-1937) performed with the original Ballets Russes, along with his young son George Skibine (1920-1981), but sadly the elder Skibine was executed during Stalin’s Great Purge of 1937. Ballerina Molly Lake (1900-1986) was married to dancer Travis Kemp (1914-1995), performed with Anna Pavlova (1881-1931) in the 1920s and was a founding member of the Cecchetti Society. Choreographer Martha Clarke (1944-) was a founding member of Pilobolus and left the group in 1979 to pursue a career as a director and independent choreographer and is best known for The Garden of Earthly Delights (1984).
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Broadway Premieres: The Band Wagon (1931) and Chicago (1975)
Ballet Premiere: Cléopâtre in 1909