Nadene Goldfoot
When I was 4 years old 1938, I started dancing with the Therese Stopper School of Dance. I spent at least 2 days a week taking the bus and getting to her studio somewhere downtown in Portland. Here's what I found about her on google. I kept on with this regimen until I was 15 or 16 which was 1949-1950. I loved dancing. It was my life away from school, away from friends to a new set of friends that I danced with. I had started with tap, then ballet, finally toe dancing, and last, real divine Spanish Dancing!
My girlfriend in high school was Pat Diel, and she took dancing with Nicholas Vasilliaoff. He was also highly thought of.
PORTLAND MEMORIES
Sometime away from Therese, maybe with her, I did a Spanish dance performance at about age 6 in costume on a Battleship Oregon, I believe it was. I remember having a male (maybe a girl in costume) partner, and this was way before I took the specialty of Spanish dancing with the castanets, high heel shoes, and special dress full of ruffles.
"(sometimes written Therese Stopper) ran an active and well-known school of dance in Portland, Oregon, during the 1920s through the 1940s. Her dance troupe frequently performed local tap, ballet, and specialty numbers for civic and clubs.
- Early Roots: Stopper was active in the local Portland arts scene as a dancer and accompanist since the early 1920s.
- 1940s Recitals: By the mid-1940s, the Terese M. Stopper School of Dance regularly produced youth and adult dance revues.
- Troupe Venues: Groups of her students performed staged specialty routines, ballet, and tap numbers at regional entertainment venues and club events in the area.
- The school was written up in the April 21, 1944 's newspaper edition of the 70 Infantry Division listing an Anna, Gleason, Carol Grabovac, Nola, and that's all I can read on the newspaper. I think I remember two sisters who were advanced with me, taking the position of leader of our dance who were either Russians or eastern European backgrounds and Carol I think was one of them, a very beautiful dancer. I even seem to remember a lady who danced in some place like vaudeville, or something quite interesting professionally; I could be wrong; So I was dancing with some wonderful young women.
- Another newspaper: Sunday Oregonian, Portland, Oregon 1831-current; May 1, 1921 featured Virginia Kenward and Therese Stopper, Marian Lang playing accompaniment for both a vocal solo by Katharine......https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFUC5ROtN8M
- Ms Stopper brought in a professional Spanish dance instructor for us, introducing us all to the castanets, high heel shoes, Spanish dancing which I adored doing. I bought a good pair of castanets, and had red satin high heeled shoes made for all the foot work that was combined with our fingered castanets.
That seemed to finish up my dancing with at my teacher's studio in 1949 when I was 15 as well as Therese at about the same period. It didn't stop me, though. I danced where I was asked to, happily. - I didn't realize how lucky I was to have mother who missed all of this and and father who gave me the lessons she wanted as a child. She took me to all my lessons on the bus, sometimes on a street car, and then I was able to take the bus alone in those days from school to dance class. My mother made all my beautiful costumes; and we had a lot of them. She developed a love for sewing and almost became a professional at that! Therese was a wonderful teacher and I had bonded with her, with Carol, with the rest that this picture I happen to have brought back so many of my memories. I'm so glad to not have forgotten this first wonderful part of my life and appreciate the confidence it gave me . Thank you all!!!
events around the city.
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