Sonia Serova

Sonia Serova (April 15, 1888 – May 9, 1943), born Eileen Mary Swepstone, was a British-born American modern dancer, also known as Eileen West and Eileen Kiefer. She taught dance in New York City, and published several dance education manuals, including three manuals for the dance education of very young children.

Sonia Serova
A white woman dancer wearing a short sleeveless dress, in a dance pose with both arms extended, both knees bent, and head thrown back
Sonia Serova, from a 1916 publication
Born
Eileen Mary Swepstone

April 15, 1888
London
DiedMay 9, 1943 (aged 55)
High Bridge, New Jersey
Other namesEileen West, Maizie Stone, Aileen Swepstone, Eileen Kiefer, Alena Vestoff
Occupation(s)Dancer, choreographer, dance educator

Early life and education

Eileen M. Swepstone was born in London, the daughter of Harry Albemarle Swepstone and Emma Hough Swepstone.[1] She attended Mrs. Wordsworth's School in London,[2][3] and studied dance with Veronine Vestoff at the University of California in 1916.[4][5]

Career
A white woman with bobbed wavy hair, looking back over one shoulder
Sonia Serova, from a 1926 newspaper

As Eileen Swepstone, she acted and danced in local theatre productions in British Columbia in 1912,[6] 1913,[7][8] 1914,[9][10] and 1916.[11] She danced with partner Bernard Tweedale[12] in theatres in the Pacific Northwest, including in Alaska,[13] and wrote an instructional pamphlet on the tango.[14] She began teaching children ballet and performing in San Francisco by 1916.[15][16]

Using the Russian-sounding name "Sonia Serova", she and her first husband founded the Vestoff-Serova Russian School of Dancing in New York City in 1917.[4][17] Serova was noted especially for teaching very young children in her classes, "as early as four years, but never younger".[18][19] "The only way to get anything out of a baby is to be a baby oneself, and so I just play I'm about four years old when teaching the Tinies," she explained in her book, Baby Work.[4]

Serova did a series of performances with Michio Itō in 1921.[20] Her dance company was the subject of an experimental sound film in 1924, Sonia Serova Dancers, made by Lee de Forest.[2][21] She also directed and choreographed programs at Radio City Music Hall, Madison Square Garden[22] and the Skating Club of New York. She taught from a studio at Steinway Hall, and in New Jersey, in her later years.[1][23]

Publications
  • How to Dance the Tango (1914 pamphlet, with Bernard Tweedale)[24]
  • Nature Dancing: The Poetry of Motion (1916)[25]
  • Baby Work (1917)[26]
  • Talented Tots (1925)
  • Childhood Rhythms (1926)
  • Technique of Toe Dancing: A Graded Text Book for Students on Pointes (1934)

Personal life and legacy

Swepstone married fellow dancer Charles West, also known as Veronine Vestoff, in 1917. They had a daughter, Cynthia, born in 1918. She died in 1943, in High Bridge, New Jersey.[1] The Serova School of Dance in Somerville, New Jersey, was opened by her daughter in 1954.[27][28]

References
  1. "Sonia Serova; Ex-Ballet Mistress Directed the Skating Club Carnivals". The New York Times. 1943-05-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  2. Soren, David. "Sonia Serova: Greek Dance Come to Life". The American Vaudeville Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-29.
  3. Barzel, Ann (1944). European Dance Teachers in the United States. Ballet Society. p. 81 – via Internet Archive.
  4. Zeller, Jessica (2016-06-01). Shapes of American Ballet: Teachers and Training before Balanchine. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-029671-1.
  5. "Many from Oregon Attending Summer Session at Berkeley". The Oregon Daily Journal. 1916-07-09. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. "Superb Performance by Society People". Vancouver Daily World. 1912-04-09. p. 12. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. "For the Cadets". The Vancouver Sun. 1913-06-16. p. 8. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. "'Cafe Chantant' is Great Success". The Vancouver Sun. 1913-09-05. p. 7. Retrieved 2023-03-30 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. "Local Play Presented at the Imperial". The Province. 1914-12-26. p. 13. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Local Actors Will Be Seen in Play". The Victoria Daily Times. 1914-03-13. p. 18. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Lady Madcap". The Vancouver Sun. 1915-05-15. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Plan Notable Concert". Vancouver Daily World. 1914-05-12. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "At Orpheum Tonight". Juneau Empire. 1914-07-02. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Miss Swepstone and Mr. Bernard Tweedale. (1914). The tango, as standardized and taught by the representative dancing masters of the North American continent; tango two-step, hesitation waltz, Boston glide, one-step, described by Miss Eileen Swepstone ... illustrated.
  15. "Benefit Ballet". The San Francisco Examiner. 1916-03-22. p. 11. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  16. "30 Dancers Ready for Benefit; Charming Girl to Lead Ballet". The San Francisco Examiner. 1916-04-16. p. 40. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. "Dancing as a Fine Art". Arts & Decoration: 282–283. March 1917.
  18. "Music in Song and Dance". The Ridgewood Herald. 1933-12-20. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  19. Jackson, Stewart (1926-09-26). "How Choruses are Trained". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. p. 101. Retrieved 2023-04-11 – via Newspapers.com.
  20. "Michio Itow". Shadowland. 3: 35. January 1921 – via Internet Archive.
  21. "Dr. Lee de Forest: Radios and Research". DeForest Radio. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  22. "Sonia Serova; Rites for Ballet Teacher". Daily News. 1943-05-11. p. 71. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  23. "New Dance School; Mme Sonia Serova Will Open Studio in Ridgewood". The Ridgewood Herald. 1933-09-15. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  24. Swepstone, Eileen; Tweedale, Bernard (1914). "The tango as standardized and taught by the representative dancing masters of the North American continent; tango two-step, hesitation waltz, Boston glide, one-step". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2023-03-30.
  25. Serova, Sonia (1916). Nature dancing; the poetry of motion. New York.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  26. Serova, Sonia (1917). Baby work. Harold B. Lee Library. New York : Vestoff-Serova Russian Acad. of Dancing, Inc.
  27. "Serova School of Dance (advertisement)". The Courier-News. 2001-06-24. p. 81. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
  28. "Sonia Serova Dies, Famed Dancing Teacher". The Courier-News. 1943-05-10. p. 5. Retrieved 2023-03-29 – via Newspapers.com.
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