Edna Moscelyne Larkin Jasinski (January 14, 1925 – April 25, 2012) was an American ballerina and one of the "

Five Moons The Five Moons were five Native American ballerinas from the U.S. state of Oklahoma who achieved international recognition during the 20th century. The five women were Myra Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower, Moscelyne Larkin, and sisters Mar ...

", Native American

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the 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. Ballet dancer ...

s from

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

who gained international fame in the 20th century. After dancing with the Original Ballet Russe and the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, she and her husband settled in

Tulsa, Oklahoma Tulsa ( ) is the List of municipalities in Oklahoma, second-most-populous city in the U.S. state, state of Oklahoma, after Oklahoma City, and the List of United States cities by population, 48th-most-populous city in the United States. The po ...

, where in 1956 they founded the Tulsa Ballet and its associated school. It became a major regional company in the

American Southwest The Southwestern United States, also known as the American Southwest or simply the Southwest, is a geographic and cultural list of regions of the United States, region of the United States that includes Arizona and New Mexico, along with adjacen ...

and made its

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 ...

debut in 1983. She is portrayed in the mural ''Flight of Spirit'' displayed in the Rotunda of the

Oklahoma State Capitol The Oklahoma State Capitol is the house of government of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It is the building that houses the Oklahoma Legislature and executive branch offices. It is located along Lincoln Boulevard in Oklahoma City and contains 452,50 ...

building.

Early life and education

Edna Moscelyne Larkin was born in

Miami, Oklahoma Miami ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Ottawa County, Oklahoma, United States, founded in 1891. Lead and zinc mining were established by 1918, causing the area's economy to boom. This area was part of Indian Territory. Miami is the capit ...

in 1925, the only daughter of Eva Matlagova-Larkin, a young dancer from Russia, and Rueben Francis Larkin, an Eastern Shawnee-Peoria Indian. Her mother trained her in ballet until the girl was old enough to move to New York City to further her studies. There she studied under Vincenzo Celli, Mikhail Mordkin, and Anatole Vilzak-Shollar.Foster, Toni Annette
Moscelyne Larkin profile
, Oklahoma Historical Society ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture'' (2009); retrieved February 10, 2009.

Dancing career

In 1941, at age 15, Larkin joined Colonel Wassily de Basil's Original Ballet Russe.Livingston, Lili Cockerille. ''American Indian Ballerinas''. Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press, 1999: xix. She performed with the company in Europe and the Americas. While dancing with the company, Larkin met her future husband Roman Jasinski, a ''premier danseur'' from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

.''New York Times'' obituary for Roman Jasinski
Retrieved November 22, 2009. In 1948, she achieved the rank of a ballerina; she and her husband had both moved to the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, directed by Serge Denham.

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

often showcased her as a prima ballerina. In 1954 Larkin toured Asia, performing in Alexandra Danilova's "Great Movements in Dance". She excelled in comical roles as a ''

soubrette A soubrette is a female minor stock character in opera and theatre, often a pert lady's maid. By extension, the term can refer generally to any saucy or flirtatious young woman. The term arrived in English from Provençal via French, and means " ...

''. She played the

can-can The can-can (also spelled cancan as in the original French /kɑ̃kɑ̃/) is a high-energy, physically demanding dance that became a popular music-hall dance in the 1840s, continuing in popularity in French cabaret to this day. Originally dance ...

dancer in ''

Gaîté Parisienne ''Gaîté Parisienne'' () is a 1938 ballet choreographed by Léonide Massine (1896–1979) to music by Jacques Offenbach (1819–1880) arranged and orchestrated many decades later by Manuel Rosenthal (1904–2003) in collaboration with Jacques B ...

''. Agnes de Mille, the choreographer and dancer, admired Larkin's performance as the Cowgirl in

Aaron Copland Aaron Copland (, ; November 14, 1900December 2, 1990) was an American composer, critic, writer, teacher, pianist, and conductor of his own and other American music. Copland was referred to by his peers and critics as the "Dean of American Compos ...

's ''

Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaqu ...

'', a role which was premiered by de Mille.

Marriage and family

Larkin married Roman Jasinski in 1943. After they had a son, Roman Larkin Jasinski, on February 21, 1954, they decided to retire from performing. They moved to

, where they created a ballet school and founded the Tulsa Civic Ballet (later known as the Tulsa Ballet). It became a major company in the

Southwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

and made its premier in New York in 1983. Larkin introduced area schoolchildren to ballet and also taught ballet to higher-level students at the

University of Tulsa The University of Tulsa (TU) is a Private university, private research university in Tulsa, Oklahoma. It has a historic affiliation with the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), Presbyterian Church, although it is now nondenominational, and the campus ...

Honors

In 1967,

Quapaw The Quapaw ( , Quapaw language, Quapaw: ) or Arkansas, officially the Quapaw Nation, is a List of federally recognized tribes in the United States, U.S. federally recognized tribe comprising about 6,000 citizens. Also known as the Ogáxpa or � ...

Cherokee The Cherokee (; , or ) people are one of the Indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, they were concentrated in their homelands, in towns along river valleys of what is now southwestern ...

composer Louis Ballard wrote the music for the ballet, ''The Four Moons'', for the Oklahoma Indian Ballerina Festival. The ballet honors the ''

'': Larkin,

Yvonne Chouteau Myra Yvonne Chouteau () (March 7, 1929 – January 24, 2016) was an American ballerina and one of the "Five Moons" or Native Americans in the United States, Native ''prima ballerinas'' of Oklahoma. She was the only child of Corbett Edward and Luc ...

Rosella Hightower Rosella Hightower (January 10, 1920 – November 4, 2008) was an American ballerina and member of the Choctaw Nation. One of the Five Moons, she achieved fame in both the United States and Europe, and later enjoyed a career as an instructor and ...

, and sisters Maria and Marjorie Tallchief. In its solos, the dancers evoked their four distinct tribal cultures.Everett, Dianna
Louis Wayne Ballard profile
. Oklahoma Historical Society. ''Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History & Culture'' (2009), retrieved February 10, 2009. Larkin was inducted into the

Oklahoma Hall of Fame The Oklahoma Hall of Fame was founded in 1927 by Anna B. Korn to officially celebrate Statehood Day, recognize Oklahomans dedicated to their communities, and provide educational programming for all ages. The first Oklahoma Hall of Fame Induction Cer ...

in 1978. In 1988, she received the annual ''

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. In 1993, she was inducted in the Oklahoma Women's Hall of Fame. The Council of American Indians honored her as "Outstanding Indian" that same year.

Chickasaw The Chickasaw ( ) are an Indigenous people of the Southeastern Woodlands, United States. Their traditional territory was in northern Mississippi, northwestern and northern Alabama, western Tennessee and southwestern Kentucky. Their language is ...

artist Mike Larsen included Larkin in his monumental mural, '' Flight of Spirit'', displayed in the Great Rotunda of the

Oklahoma City Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

Death

Larkin suffered from Alzheimer's disease and died in Tulsa, Oklahoma, April 25, 2012, from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...

. She is survived by her son, Roman Larkin Jasinski.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Larkin, Moscelyne 1925 births 2012 deaths People from Miami, Oklahoma Artists from Tulsa, Oklahoma American prima ballerinas Ballets Russes dancers American ballet teachers American people of Russian descent American people of Welsh descent Peoria people Native American dancers Eastern Shawnee people University of Tulsa faculty Five Moons 20th-century American academics 20th-century American women academics 20th-century Native American people 20th-century Native American women 20th-century American ballet dancers