Orval Hixon

Garbed in a classical ballerina tutu replete with petite swan wings, Florence O'Denishawn poses demurely against the wall with her crossed arms raised as if in a self-embrace. Her right hand is gently poised on her left shoulder. She stands En Pointe in satin ballerina slippers with her left foot ever so slightly posit...

Dancer and choreographer Theodore Kosloff (1882-1956) trained from a young age at the Imperial School of Dance in Moscow. His fame came when he began dancing in England and France before moving on to the United States. There, he started a nationally renowned school of dance in Los Angeles and performed in several Cecil...

Photographed by Orval Hixon in a period of America's history when cultural appropriation was not a concern, this portrait of Ruth St. Denis in costume certainly presents opportunities for deeper conversations around unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, and ideas of one people or society b...

Sammy Baird was a local Kansas City dance instructor and vaudeville performer. This picture captures a profile view of Baird in a dramatic dancer's pose, effortlessly balanced on a single pointed toe with the other leg bent and the knee and lifted. She repeats the pose with her arms, holding her left arm raised in the...

Orval Hixon photographed this unidentified Fanchon & Marco dancer in such a way that she simultaneously exudes both strengthen and vulnerability all in a 3/4 length pose. Her confident gaze to the viewer's left is belied by her left hand clutching a shibori-lined velvet drape to her chest. Her left hand rests on her le...

The addition of a whimsical pointed crown and ruffled white babydoll costume lends a playful lighthearted mood to this portrait of an unknown subject. She stands in ballerina slippers with her left foot on pointe and her right leg extended at a 90 degree angle. Her left hand delicately caresses the ruffles of her costu...

This portrait features Cleveland Bronner as a full length solitary figure with arms extended in the act of worshipful reverence. Bronner appears mostly nude with the exception that he wears a full feather headdress, long plumed boa, sparkling beaded arm and leg bands, and sandals. He takes a confident step forward, wi...

Australian dancer and swimmer Annette Kellerman (1887-1975) gained international fame and a long-lasting place in American vaudeville scene as the "Siren of the Sea." Kellerman had to wear leg braces as a child, but as an adult she was known as both a health advocate and a sex symbol. While Kellerman's dancing was seco...

There is some uncertainty about how California-born Florence Andrews (1887-1991) became Florence O'Denishawn, but most attribute her name change to a misprint of "Florence of Denishawn," the renowned dance school. The name stuck even as O'Denishawn moved on to shows like the Ziegfeld Follies, and wherever she appeared,...

In this portrait, Louise stands in a dramatic theatrical pose. Garbed in a strapless white dress gathered at her waist and again at the hips, Riley gazes up to her left as if in thought. Flowers secured to her bodice and hair act as harbingers of tender gentility. She delicately holds a piece of white fabric aloft behi...