Dorothy Lyndall (May 4, 1891 – May 11, 1979) was an American dancer and dance educator.

Early life

Dorothy Stewart Lyndall was born in Los Angeles in 1891, the daughter of Charles Penny Lyndall and Deborah Stewart Lyndall. She attended the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

Career

Lyndall was a dancer in Los Angeles, performing and touring in the 1910s as a leading member of the Norma Gould Dancers. Her frequent partner in dancing and teaching was dancer and model Bertha Wardell. She also had her own long-running school of dance in Los Angeles. Among her students in the 1930s were choreographer Myra Kinch and Yuriko Kikuchi, who later danced on

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street ** Broadway Theatre (53rd Stre ...

and with

Martha Graham Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 – April 1, 1991) was an American modern dancer, teacher and choreographer, whose style, the Graham technique, reshaped the dance world and is still taught in academies worldwide. Graham danced and taught for over s ...

. Another noted former student,

Janet Collins Janet Collins, OblSB (March 7, 1917 – May 28, 2003) was an African American prima ballerina, choreographer, and teacher. She performed on Broadway, in films, and appeared frequently on television. She was among the pioneers of black ballet dan ...

, recalled Lyndall fondly: "Dorothy Lyndall was the greatest dance enthusiast and lover of the dance I have ever known. She loved the dance and loved dancers. She was literally a Socrates of the dance — she gathered dancers under her wings like a mother hen with her chicks."

Adrienne Dore Adrienne Dore (born Elizabeth Himmelsbach; May 22, 1907 – November 26, 1992) was an American actress, model (profession), model, and beauty pageant winner. She was first runner-up in the Miss America 1925 pageant, competing as Miss California, ...

danced in 1931 programs directed by Lyndall. In 1935, Lyndall and Myra Kinch taught a special course in

eurhythmics Dalcroze eurhythmics, also known as the Dalcroze method or simply eurhythmics, is a developmental approach to music education. Eurhythmics was developed in the early 20th century by Swiss musician and educator Émile Jaques-Dalcroze and has inf ...

at the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona, United States. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it ...

's dance program, which was under the direction of Lyndall's student Genevieve Brown Wright. Lyndall was still teaching and touring in 1948, when she went to Hawaii to study children's dance programs, and was described as being frequently in

Tucson, Arizona Tucson (; ; ) is a city in Pima County, Arizona, United States, and its county seat. It is the second-most populous city in Arizona, behind Phoenix, Arizona, Phoenix, with a population of 542,630 in the 2020 United States census. The Tucson ...

. In 1951 she visited Genevieve Wright in Arizona. Lyndall was a member of the Dancers' League. She also wrote poetry, some of which was published in ''The Lyric West''.

Personal life

Dorothy Lyndall and Margaret Rees traveled together in the American Southwest, Hawaii, and Mexico. Their collection of photographs and postcards is in the University of California, Irvine Libraries.Dorothy Lyndall and Margaret Rees photograph collection
University of California, Irvine Libraries. Lyndall died in 1979, in

Fontana, California Fontana is a city in San Bernardino County, California, United States. Founded by Azariel Blanchard Miller in 1913, it remained essentially rural until World War II, when entrepreneur Henry J. Kaiser built a large steel mill in the area. It ...

, aged 88 years. Her grave is in Mission City Memorial Park in

Santa Clara, California Santa Clara ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for "Clare of Assisi, Saint Clare") is a city in Santa Clara County, California. The city's population was 127,647 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities and towns i ...

References

External links

* John Crosse
"Bertha Wardell: Dances in Silence: Kings Road, Olive Hill and Carmel"
''Southern California Architectural History'' (June 4, 2012). A long and abundantly illustrated blogpost situating Dorothy Lyndall and Bertha Wardell in the Los Angeles arts scene of the 1910s and 1920s, including connections with dancers

Ruth St. Denis Ruth St. Denis (born Ruth Dennis; January 20, 1879 – July 21, 1968) was an American pioneer of modern dance, introducing eastern ideas into the art and paving the way for other women in dance. She was inspired by the Delsarte advocate Gene ...

Ted Shawn Ted Shawn (born Edwin Myers Shawn; October 21, 1891 – January 9, 1972) was an American dancer and choreographer. Considered a pioneer of American modern dance, he created the Denishawn School together with his wife Ruth St. Denis. After their ...

, and

Mikhail Mordkin __NOTOC__ Mikhail Mordkin (; December 9, 1880, Moscow, Russian Empire – July 15, 1944, New York) graduated from the Moscow State Academy of Choreography, Bolshoi Ballet School in 1899, and in the same year was appointed ballet master. He join ...

, and photographers

Barbara Morgan Barbara Radding Morgan (born November 28, 1951) is an American teacher and a former NASA astronaut. She participated in the Teacher in Space Project as backup to Christa McAuliffe for the 1986 ill-fated STS-51-L mission of the Space Shuttle ' ...

and

Edward Weston Edward Henry Weston (March 24, 1886 – January 1, 1958) was an American photographer. He has been called "one of the most innovative and influential American photographers" and "one of the masters of 20th century photography." Over the course ...

. * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lyndall, Dorothy 1891 births 1979 deaths American dancers Dance education in the United States Entertainers from Los Angeles University of California, Los Angeles alumni