Dorothy Alexander (born Dorothy Sydney Moses; April 22, 1904 – November 17, 1986) was an American

ballet dancer A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. B ...

choreographer Choreography is the art of designing sequences of movements of physical bodies (or their depictions) in which Motion (physics), motion or Visual appearance, form or both are specified. ''Choreography'' may also refer to the design itself. A chor ...

, teacher, and company director. She was founded what is now called the

Atlanta Ballet Atlanta Ballet is a ballet company, located in Atlanta, Georgia. It is the longest continuously performing ballet company in the United States and the State Ballet of Georgia. History Atlanta Ballet was founded in 1929 by Dorothy Alexander as ...

in 1929.

Early life

Alexander was born in

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Georgia (U.S. state), most populous city in the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is the county seat, seat of Fulton County, Georg ...

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, the daughter of Frank Hamilton Moses and Cora Mina Thibadeau. She was one of four children in her family. Her father was a traveling salesman, and served for a time as Atlanta City Clerk. In 1910, she suffered from

osteomyelitis Osteomyelitis (OM) is the infectious inflammation of bone marrow. Symptoms may include pain in a specific bone with overlying redness, fever, and weakness. The feet, spine, and hips are the most commonly involved bones in adults. The cause is ...

, which was treated with a full year of bed rest and a body cast. When she recovered, she began studying dance. Her mother died in 1915 and her father died in 1920.

Career

Dorothy Moses opened a ballet school in 1921; it is now the Atlanta School of Ballet. In 1925, she graduated from the Atlanta Normal School and began working as an elementary school teacher. In 1927, she began a dance program in the

Atlanta Public Schools Atlanta Public Schools (APS) is a school district based in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It is run by the Atlanta Board of Education with Superintendent Dr. Bryan Johnson. The system has an active enrollment of 54,956 students, attending ...

. She studied in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

and

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. She danced both in New York and Atlanta, working under choreographer Edwin Strawbridge and dance educator Lucile Marsh, as well as with the touring companies of the Hollywood Ballet and the Solomonoff-Menzelli Ballet. Following a brief marriage to Marion Alexander, she founded the Dorothy Alexander Concert Group in 1929; it was renamed the Atlanta Civic Ballet in 1941, and became the Atlanta Ballet in 1968. Alexander was an advocate for high-quality ballet organizations outside major artistic centers like New York. She found Atlanta to be a "lonely" place for a dance enthusiast, and she worked to support dance and dance education in Atlanta and around the country. In 1956, she organized the Regional Dance America, the first regional dance festival in the United States. She helped to found the National Association for Regional Ballet (NARB) in 1963. She retired from the Atlanta Civic Ballet in 1964 due to illness, but continued to consult for both the ballet and for NARB.

Personal life

Dorothy Moses married

Nashville Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...

architect Marion Alexander in 1926; they divorced a year later.

Death

She died of cancer on November 17, 1986.

Awards and honors

* Atlanta Woman of The Year in Arts Award, 1947 *''

Dance Magazine ''Dance Magazine'' is an American trade publication for dance. It was first published in June 1927 as ''The American Dancer''. ''Dance Magazine'' is currently part of Dance Media, led by longtime arts publisher Joanna Harp as president, and has mu ...

'' Award, 1959 or 1960 (sources vary) * Georgia Governor's Award, 1976 * Capezio Dance Award, 1981 * Honorary doctorate from

Emory University Emory University is a private university, private research university in Atlanta, Georgia, United States. It was founded in 1836 as Emory College by the Methodist Episcopal Church and named in honor of Methodist bishop John Emory. Its main campu ...

, 1986

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Alexander, Dorothy 1904 births 1986 deaths American women choreographers American choreographers American female dancers American ballerinas Entertainers from Atlanta 20th-century American women 20th-century American ballet dancers