In July 1946, Dance Magazine published a charming, insider-focused cartoon titled “One Ballerina’s Day,” penned by 21-year-old Mary Ellen Moylan.
The Bottom Line
- A Rare Historical Artifact: Mary Ellen Moylan’s 1946 cartoon offers a firsthand look at mid-century ballet culture from an active dancer’s perspective.
- A Pivotal Career Launchpad: The year 1946 marked a major transition for Moylan, moving from the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo to Broadway with Antony Tudor and premiering in Balanchine’s work.
- An Era of Cross-Disciplinary Art: The original print issue surrounded Moylan’s work with podiatry advice, choreography essays, and profiles of dancers bridging classical ballet with Hollywood and nightclub circuits.
Inside the July 1946 Issue of Dance Magazine
Eighty years ago, the pages of Dance Magazine reflected a multifaceted performance landscape where classical technique met commercial stage work. The July 1946 issue positioned Mary Ellen Moylan’s “One Ballerina’s Day” cartoon directly between a specialized foot care guide for dancers by podiatrist Dr. Horace Worrell and an educational essay penned by dancer and choreographer Anton Dolin addressing the concerns of dance students’ parents.
The broader cultural ecosystem of that specific issue highlights how versatile mid-century performers had to be. Elsewhere in the magazine, readers found a behind-the-scenes feature detailing a troupe of twelve dancers assembled by Jack Cole under a permanent contract with Columbia Pictures to appear in dance numbers in its films as needed. Review sections covered programs by artists such as Alicia Markova, Dolin, La Meri, Pearl Primus, Anna Sokolow, and Merce Cunningham, while a separate profile documented the nightclub success of the artists who had taken the circuit by storm under the moniker Mata and Hari.
Mary Ellen Moylan’s Ascent and the Balanchine Connection
At just 21 years old when the cartoon appeared, Moylan was already well into her professional career. Having trained early at the School of American Ballet, she began performing principal roles as a teenager with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, where George Balanchine was resident choreographer. Here is the kicker: 1946 was not just a notable year for her ink-and-paper illustration skills; it was an auspicious year for her stage career.
During that same year, Moylan stepped away from the Ballet Russe to collaborate with Antony Tudor on the Broadway musical The Day Before Spring. She subsequently joined Ballet Society, the predecessor to the New York City Ballet. By November 1946, she debuted the role of Sanguinic in Balanchine’s The Four Temperaments. Her impact on the American stage prompted Maria Tallchief to later designate her as “the first great Balanchine ballerina.”
Mapping the Mid-Century Dance Economy
To understand the significance of Moylan’s cartoon and the surrounding editorial content, it helps to examine the structural reality of the dance profession in the mid-1940s. While classical ballet companies operated, commercial film studios like Columbia Pictures actively integrated specialized dance troupes into their production pipelines to capture mainstream audiences.
| Venture / Company | Key Figure | 1946 Industry Milestone |
|---|---|---|
| Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo | George Balanchine | Core training and principal performance breeding ground for young talent. |
| Ballet Society | Mary Ellen Moylan | Precursor to New York City Ballet; debuted Sanguinic in The Four Temperaments. |
| Columbia Pictures Contract Troupe | Jack Cole | Permanent assembly of twelve dancers providing cinematic choreography. |
| Broadway Stage | Antony Tudor | Cross-pollination of ballet technique into theatrical musicals like The Day Before Spring. |
This economic straddling between high art and commercial entertainment ensured that dancers like Moylan navigated both neoclassical creations and theatrical productions.
Preserving the Archives of Performance History
Looking back at archival prints from eight decades ago offers a vital corrective to how we view dance history today. We often isolate classical ballet in a vacuum, forgetting that dancers in 1946 were reading practical podiatry columns, navigating Hollywood studio contracts, and sketching the absurdities of their daily routines for publication.
Mary Ellen Moylan’s cartoon reminds us that the pioneers of American ballet possessed sharp wits to match their technical rigor.
What are your thoughts on how modern dance artists document their backstage lives compared to the print-cartoon era? Drop a comment below and join the discussion.
