Dora Duby
{{short description|American dancer (1901–1998)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Dora Duby
| image = Dora Duby LCCN2014717881.jpg
| alt = A smiling young white woman wearing a hat and a fur coat, photographed outdoors
| caption = Duby, photographed for the Bain News Service in the 1910s
| birth_name = Stephania Dubcich
| birth_date = {{birth date|1901|10|9}}
| birth_place = Seattle, Washington
| death_date = {{death date and age|April 12, 1998|October 9, 1901}}
| death_place =
| other_names = Stephanie Duby
| occupation = Dancer
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
Dora Duby (October 9, 1901Many sources give 1902 or 1905 as Duby's birth year; 1901 is the date given in the United States Social Security Death Index, via Ancestry; this date agrees with her appearance in the 1910 Federal Census as an 8-year-old, in her mother's home in Seattle. – April 12, 1998), born Stephania Dubcich, was an American dancer on Broadway, in London, and in Paris in the 1920s and 1930s.
Early life and education
Stephania Dubcich was born in Seattle (though some sources give Spokane or San Francisco as her birthplace), the daughter of Stephen Dubcich (Duby) and Augusta D. Fraude Stevens. Her mother was born in Germany, and her father was born in Austria. She trained as a dancer with Luigi Albertieri. In mid-career, she also trained with Mary Wigman in Berlin.{{Cite news |last=Kerr |first=Adelaide |date=1932-10-16 |title=Dance Needs Footwork; Head Counts Too; Dora Duby Holds Interpretation Not Mere Matter of Legs and Arms |pages=7 |work=The Enid Morning News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-enid-morning-news-dance-needs-footwo/129825711/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Career
Duby danced in San Francisco, and with Anna Pavlova's company, as a young woman.{{Cite news |date=1917-10-20 |title=French Opera Co. Revivie Ballet Dances |pages=5 |work=The San Francisco Examiner |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-san-francisco-examiner-french-opera/129829230/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her Broadway credits included roles in The Lady in Red (1919), Linger Longer Letty (1919–1920), The Midnight Rounders of 1921,[https://books.google.com/books?id=BmxDAQAAMAAJ&dq=Dora+Duby&pg=PA442 "Dora Duby"] Dramatic Mirror 83 (March 12, 1921): 442.{{Cite journal |date=May 1921 |title=On the Century Roof |url=https://archive.org/details/Shadowland0403Images/page/n43/mode/2up?q=%22Dora+Duby%22+ |journal=Shadowland |pages=44 |via=Internet Archive}} and Bombo (1921). In London, she danced in music halls,{{Cite journal |last=Jolo |date=June 4, 1924 |title=Dora Duby and Partner, Singing and Dancing |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1924-06-04_75_3/page/30/mode/2up?q=%22Dora+Duby%22+ |journal=Variety |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=31 |via=Internet Archive}} and appeared in The Whirl of the World (1924) and Dolly's Revels (1924).{{Cite journal |date=June 4, 1924 |title=Dora Duby the American Dancer |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_variety_1924-06-04_75_3/page/6/mode/2up?q=%22Dora+Duby%22+ |journal=Variety |volume=75 |issue=3 |pages=6 |via=Internet Archive}} In Paris she danced in cabarets at Club Daunou, Acacias, Ciro's, the Casino de Paris, and Le Perroquet in the mid-1920s, including a stint as dance partner of Maurice Chevalier.{{Cite journal |last=de Fouquières |first=André |date=September 15, 1925 |title=A Visit to the Chateau de Merlemont |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VJcK-JKcnT4C&dq=Dora+Duby&pg=RA5-PA58 |journal=The Spur |volume=36 |pages=58}} In Europe she also danced in Venice, Vienna,{{Cite news |date=February 18, 1928 |title=The A-Dora-Ble Duby: Dancing in a Spectacular Viennese Revue: Dora Duby |pages=355 |work=Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News |via=The British Newspaper Archive}} Deauville, Biarritz, Monaco, Cannes, and Aix le Bains, and she toured in China, India, and South America.
Duby also modeled gowns for Vogue, and displayed her jewelry in The Sketch.[https://books.google.com/books?id=-xSNmbJRbEcC&dq=Dora+Duby&pg=RA2-PA14 "Two Stars in the Realm of Art"] Vogue 68(October 15, 1926): 161–162.[https://books.google.com/books?id=3rIiAQAAMAAJ&dq=Dora+Duby&pg=PA413 "One of the Most Popular French Stage Stars – Mlle. Dora Duby – and her Bracelets"] The Sketch 137(March 2, 1927): 413. Her dresses were described in detail in press reports in the 1920s and 1930s.{{Cite news |date=December 22, 1926 |title=American Dancer In Vienna Wears Individual Stage Frocks |pages=29 |work=Women's Wear |id={{ProQuest|}} }}{{Cite news |date=1933-11-21 |title=Dora Duby Will Appear in Dazzling Costumes |pages=21 |work=The Buffalo News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-buffalo-news-dora-duby-will-appear-i/129827907/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1933-11-07 |title=Dora Duby Combines Gray, Gold and White in Frock |pages=7 |work=Press of Atlantic City |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/press-of-atlantic-city-dora-duby-combine/129826864/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1935, she was hired by the Mexican government to direct the Escuela Nacional de Danza in Mexico City.{{Cite news |date=1936-01-24 |title=This Famous Dancer is a Government Official |pages=6 |work=The Shepton Mallet Journal, City of Wells Reporter, and County Advertiser |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-shepton-mallet-journal-city-of-well/129828065/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1937-01-04 |title=Dance Conscious; Mexican Children |pages=3 |work=Lithgow Mercury |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lithgow-mercury-dance-conscious-mexican/129828627/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}
Personal life
Duby sued millionaire Harold Grier in 1923, saying that he promised then failed to marry her.{{Cite news |date=1923-07-15 |title=Thousand-Dollar Bills for a Sprint, Pennies for Her Broken Heart |pages=46 |work=The Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-thousand-dollar-bills-for-a-sp/129827805/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} In 1924, she was rumored to have many wealthy suitors in Paris and Venice,{{Cite news |date=December 8, 1924 |title=U.S. Beauty, Dancer in Paris, Won by Scion of Gotham Family, Report |pages=1 |work=Ada Evening News |url=https://archive.org/details/ada-evening-news-1924-12-08/mode/2up?q=%22Dora+Duby%22+dancer |access-date=August 11, 2023 |via=Internet Archive}}{{Cite news |date=1926-10-03 |title=Jazz, Dukes and Diamonds to Cure a 'Broken Heart' |pages=50 |work=The Evansville Journal |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-evansville-journal-jazz-dukes-and-d/129825906/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} including Ahmad Mirza.{{Cite news |date=1925-01-08 |title=The Jilted, Jilting Beauty and the Jolly Shah |pages=14 |work=Lancaster New Era |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/lancaster-new-era-the-jilted-jilting-be/129826461/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} Her partner Ernest Van Duren died by suicide in 1930.{{Cite news |last=Wales |first=Henry |date=1930-07-18 |title=Kills Self as Morgan Scion's Sweetie Balks at Nude Dance |pages=99 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-news-kills-self-as-morgan-scions/129827602/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}}{{Cite news |date=1934-12-16 |title=Faithful a Ghost |pages=34 |work=El Paso Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/el-paso-times-faithful-a-ghost/129827435/ |access-date=2023-08-11 |via=Newspapers.com}} She died in 1998, at the age of 96.
References
{{reflist}}
External links
{{commons category|Dora Duby}}
- {{IBDB name|38574}}
- [https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/265118 A photograph of Dora Duby], by James Abbe, in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- [https://www.moma.org/collection/works/47772 A photograph of Dora Duby in Paris], by James Abbe, at the Museum of Modern Art
- Gary Chapman, [https://www.jazzageclub.com/dancing-dora-duby/894/ "Dancing Dora Duby"] Jazz Age Club (April 27, 2010); a blogpost about Duby, with a lot of images.
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Duby, Dora}}