Getting Noticed

June Roper was 12 yeas old and one of hundreds of aspiring young dancers at the Belcher studios. She was also one of the few who came without a 'stage mother'. Belcher showed no interest in the young girl until she was fourteen and managed to get herself an engagement at the Pantages Theater as a solo dancer in a sketch called The Goddess of Love. For auditions, Elizabeth Roper had accompanied her daughter and when June was accepted, Mrs. Roper had produced the outfit. It was an elaborately beaded garment with slit harem trousers, breast-plates with elaborate tassels and a feathered head-dress.

The Los Angeles Examiner featured a photo of June in her costume with fellow performers Mrs. Shunway Enderley - reader, interpreter and harpist - and Margaret Goetz- "who is giving highly instructive operalogues." The caption above June's photo read "Highly Talented".

Elizabeth and June must have been hoping that George Roper wouldn't be in Los Angeles and that he didn't read the Examiner.

After her debut at the Pantages, other assignments followed. Some in vaudeville at the Loew's State Theatre, some at several Pantages houses and Grauman's picture palaces as well as those that came through charity bazaars presented in major Los Angeles hotels. This got the interest of Belcher and he realized that the young June Roper was worthy of his personal attention.

In her third year of high school, June's father died and this opened avenues for the young woman. No longer would she need to hide her activities and she could make more positive moves towards the career she longed for.

George left her an inheritance and June used it to enrol in a private school where she learned English, French and painting in the afternoons and left her mornings free for her dance training. At 7 a.m., June was at the Belcher Studios.

June's studies brought a mastery of basic ballet technique. She was also able to acquire a profound insight into the mechanics and physics of dancing through private lessons. She got occasional assignments in films which helped pay for the the personal instruction.

One such assignment where she was a stand-in for Billie Dove required June to do a spectacular high dive into the water at Catalina Island and stab a shark that threatened the film's heroine. Fortunately, her brothers gave her lessons in high-diving.

At sixteen, June was an accomplished ballroom dancer and had mastered many theatrical versions of the major ethnic dance forms. She began to incorporate elements from her ballet training into her adagio work. She worked with Jose Novarro, brother of the film idol Ramon, who worked with her for two months developing a routine she tried out at her high school's annual show. She was successful in training a partner from scratch and this talent would be repeated in her years as a performer and a teacher in Canada. 

Monday, I will start telling you about June Roper's professional career. She was a determined young woman and I think we can all learn from her on how to succeed at what you want to do. Once again, I would like to thank Leland Windreich and his book June Roper Ballet Starmaker for the information above.

Have a great weekend and I hope you find the beauty around you.

A Secret Passion

After ten-year-old June Roper saw Anna Pavlova dance, her future was determined. She was ready to make the necessary sacrifices and commitments to seeing her dream come true. Elizabeth Roper, her mother, understood June's desires - perhaps recalling her own dreams as a child -but refused to support those goals financially. After all, approaching her husband George for endorsement would have created a disaster.

June kept on with her goals, refusing to accept any roadblocks. When a teenaged neighbour threw out a pair of used toe shoes, June grabbed them and cut them down to size. At the age of eleven, she danced in an impromptu debut at a family Christmas gathering.

At the age of twelve, June started babysitting and she offered free lessons in dance as part of the package. She was a young lady very attentive to detail and soon became popular with the mothers in her neighbourhood. June charged 25 cents for each session. With four assignments, she would take three streetcars into downtown Los Angeles for a class at Ernest Belcher Studios.

June's long absences into town were never questioned and her mother knew what was going on though she didn't try to stop the dancing. The young Roper was a contradiction - one on hand she was fearful that her father would discover what she was doing yet on the other hand, she would seek out any and possibilities to perform publicly. Amateur nights at the moving-picture houses was one way to perform as was a furniture store opening.

Ernest Belcher had opened his studios in 1916 in Los Angeles. Belcher was an expert in the Cecchetti ballet method. He was considered the most prominent of the English teachers in American and had studied ballet in London with Francesca Zanfretta and Alexander Genee. He learned national and folk dances under Louis d'Egville and Spanish dance through studies with La Belle Otero in Spain.

Belcher maintained an employment link to the motion-picture industry so if a dancer studied with him, they had a means to get work in the movies. Belcher arranged the dance sequences and coached Hollywood stars for more than 170 motion pictures. If a student were truly ambitious, he or she would take the fees earned from film engagements and obtain coveted private lessons from Belcher. 

Thanks goes to the book June Roper Ballet Starmaker by Leland Windreich.

I hope you find the beauty around you.