Felicia Sorel
{{Short description|American dancer (1903–1972)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Felicia Sorel
| image = FeliciaSorel1921.jpg
| alt = A white woman in a standing dance pose, arms raised over her head, wearing a dress with a plunging V-neckline and a tassled cord belt
| caption = Felicia Sorel, from a 1921 publication
| other_names =
| birth_name =
| birth_date = September 28, 1903
| birth_place = New York City
| death_date = September 7, 1972
| death_place = Las Vegas, Nevada
| occupation = Dancer, choreographer, dance captain, dance educator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) = Gluck Sandor
| relatives =
}}
Felicia Sorel (September 28, 1903 – September 7, 1972) was a dancer, choreographer, and dance educator, based in New York City.
Early life and education
Sorel was raised in Brooklyn Heights; her father was a physician, and her mother taught music.{{Cite news |last=Oppenheim |first=Beatrice |date=1931-03-29 |title=Dancer Wins Fame With Sketches |pages=81 |work=The Brooklyn Daily Eagle |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121944470/dancer-wins-fame-with-sketchesbeatrice/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |via=Newspapers.com}} She trained as a dancer with Michel Fokine, Vicente Escudero, and Mary Wigman.
Career
Sorel was proficient in several genres of dance, including modern,{{Cite news |date=1934-03-20 |title=Unique Dance Exhibition Given at Monday Club |pages=7 |work=The Herald-News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121948060/unique-dance-exhibition-given-at-monday/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |via=Newspapers.com}} black bottom,{{Cite news |date=1926-10-31 |title='Black Bottom' Succeeding Charleston |pages=6 |work=The La Crosse Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121949472/black-bottom-succeeding-charleston/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |via=Newspapers.com}} and flamenco.{{Cite news |date=1937-12-13 |title='Evening of Ballet' Has Debut as 3,422 Cheer |pages=514 |work=Daily News |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121947589/evening-of-ballet-has-debut-as-3422/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |via=Newspapers.com}} She danced in Broadway shows including The Rose of Stamboul (1922), Michio Itō's Pin Wheel (1922), The Earl Carroll Vanities (1925), After Such Pleasures (1934), and Saluta (1934). She later worked as a choreographer on Broadway, including Pins and Needles (1937), Jeremiah (1939).{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=John |date=1939-01-22 |title=The Dance: Felicia Sorel, Composer; A Concert Artist Makes a Distinguished Debut as a Dramatic Choreographer--Events of the Week and After |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1939/01/22/archives/the-dance-felicia-sorel-composer-a-concert-artist-makes-a.html |access-date=2023-03-30 |issn=0362-4331}} The Gondoliers (1940),{{Cite news |last=Shipley |first=Joseph T. |date=September 21, 1940 |title=Felicia Sorel Handles Choreography for 'The Gondoliers' |pages=6 |work=The New Leader |via=ProQuest}} The Mikado (1940), The Pirates of Penzance (1940), The Trojan Women (1941), The Pirate (1941 to 1943), Run, Little Chillun (1943),{{Cite news |date=1946-10-26 |title=William L. Cash Jr. and Felicia Sorel Pay N.C.C.N. Visit |pages=8 |work=The Herald-Sun |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121945174/william-l-cash-jr-and-felicia-sorel/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |via=Newspapers.com}} My Dear Public (1943), Lysistrata (1946), King Henry VIII (1946 to 1947), and Louisiana Lady (1947). "Her gifts as a dancer have long been recognized," wrote The New York Times dance critic John Martin of her work on Everywhere I Roam (1939), adding that she showed additional promise as a choreographer, "designing dances for dramatic productions, and she has done it brilliantly and without compromise."
Sorel taught at the American Theatre Wing and the American Academy of Dramatic Arts. She also opened{{Cite news |date=1931-08-29 |title=Dance Centre Opens; Gluck-Sandor and Felicia Sorel Seen in 'Petrouschka' |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1931/08/29/archives/dance-centre-opens-glucksandor-and-felicia-sorel-seen-in.html |access-date=2023-03-30 |issn=0362-4331}} and ran a dance studio and a dance company with her first husband.{{Cite web |title=Gluck Sandor papers |url=https://archives.nypl.org/dan/19065 |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Jerome Robbins Dance Division, New York Public Library for the Performing Arts}}{{Cite news |date=1932-10-02 |title=New York Dancers to Appear; Gluck-Sandor, Felicia Sorel to Present Ballet Company in Los Angeles |pages=42 |work=The Los Angeles Times |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/121945002/new-york-dancers-to-appear/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |via=Newspapers.com}} Jerome Robbins was one of their students.{{Cite web |title=The Uncompromising World of Jerome Robbins |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/arts/highlights/001004_robbins.shtml |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=BBC World Service}}{{Cite news |last=Kriegsman |first=Alan M. |date=1979-03-04 |title=The Memoirs Can Wait |language=en-US |newspaper=Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/1979/03/04/the-memoirs-can-wait/4523629d-d8f7-441c-b8c5-87bcafe11b33/ |access-date=2023-03-30 |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite book |last=Lawrence |first=Greg |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rNwtNHJl-2IC&dq=Felicia+Sorel+dance&pg=PT24 |title=Dance with Demons: The Life Jerome Robbins |date=2001-05-07 |publisher=Penguin |isbn=978-1-101-20406-1 |language=en}} During the 1930s she worked in the Works Progress Administration.{{Cite web |last=Ingber |first=Judith Brin |date=June 23, 2021 |title=Modern Dance Performance in the United States |url=https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/dance-performance-in-united-states |access-date=2023-03-30 |website=Jewish Women's Archive |language=en}} In 1943 she helped to create the Negro Dance Company,{{Cite book |last1=Nicholas |first1=Larraine |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=AAYqDwAAQBAJ&dq=Felicia+Sorel+dance&pg=PA50 |title=Rethinking Dance History: Issues and Methodologies |last2=Morris |first2=Geraldine |date=2017-07-14 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-134-82763-3 |pages=50 |language=en}}{{Cite book |last=Lewin |first=Yaël Tamar |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_4hMLl3HEEcC&dq=Felicia+Sorel+dance&pg=PA114 |title=Night's Dancer: The Life of Janet Collins |date=2015-08-14 |publisher=Wesleyan University Press |isbn=978-0-8195-7115-1 |pages=114 |language=en}}{{Cite news |last=Allen |first=Kelcey |date=November 30, 1942 |title=Negro Dance Co. Announces Personnel |pages=3 |work=Women's Wear Daily |via=ProQuest}} and gave a recital at the Labor Stage Theatre.{{Cite news |last=Martin |first=John |date=1943-06-03 |title=The Dance; Felicia Sorel in Recital |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1943/06/03/archives/the-dance-felicia-sorel-in-recital.html |access-date=2023-03-30 |issn=0362-4331}}
In 1949, she launched Sorel Productions, "specializing in promotion, production and staging of fashion shows and industrial exhibits."{{Cite news |date=June 29, 1949 |title=Felicia Sorel Forms Sales Promotion Firm |pages=46 |work=Women's Wear Daily |via=ProQuest}}
Personal life
Sorel's first husband was fellow dancer Gluck Sandor. She died in Las Vegas in 1972, from cancer, at the age of 66.{{Cite news |date=1972-09-09 |title=Felicia Sorel Dies; A Dancer, Teacher |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1972/09/09/archives/felicia-sorel-dies-a-dancer-teacher.html |access-date=2023-03-30 |issn=0362-4331}}
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{IMDB name|4824516}}
- {{IBDB name|id=16221}}
- [https://www.gettyimages.ch/detail/nachrichtenfoto/eat-ice-cream-and-stay-thin-says-star-chicago-felicia-nachrichtenfoto/540427738?language=it A 1926 photo of Felicia Sorel] and Paul Ash by George Rinhart, at Getty Images
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sorel, Felicia}}