All the Right
MOVES MARIE HETHERINGTON DIDN’T DISCOVER DANCING as much as dancing found her. It was after a chance audition for a group of students she was teaching that Marie was hired to perform shows across the country. Referred to as a “sophisticated support act” with a “keen knowledge of show business and a winning personality” in reviews, her signature upside-down twist made Marie a sensation during a time when war efforts dominated the news. It all started when she was 4 or 5 years old and her mother signed her up for ballet and acrobatic lessons. Every Saturday, she would accompany Marie to a studio and write down all the steps the teachers taught. Back at home, she would have Marie practice the steps every day. “It was interesting, and I wanted to learn something,” she recalls. “I was good at it, as my teachers said. They moved me up with the older girls. I just kept doing it.” She never considered pursuing dance professionally but did end up teaching it. When her school was contacted by someone hiring dancers and entertainers, she accompanied a group of her
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Winter 2020 Issue