Lynn, Carol, 1893-1987

Carol Lynn (whose given name was Carol Lynn Fetser) enjoyed a varied career as a dancer and educator, but she was best known for her association with Ted Shawn and Jacob's Pillow.

Born in 1893 in New York City, Lynn began childhood dance training at 8, studying folk dancing before the time of wide-spread ballet instruction in the United States. It was during a theatrical performance she attended with her mother when, seeing a dancer on point, Lynn's fascination with ballet began. She was sent to study ballet with the influential Madame Elisabetta Menzeli until the 1920s. Lynn then toured as a professional dancer with a small company that performed in vaudeville until the 1930s. It was at this time that she became more "ballet-conscious" having viewed performances by Colonel de Basil and his Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo in the United States. Lynn began training at the Denishawn School in 1922, where she studied dance with such prominent teachers as Michel Fokine, Mikhail Mordkin, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn. By the 1930s, she became more involved at Jacob's Pillow by supervising the female students and then taking charge of administering the school. She was administrative director along with Ted Shawn of Jacob's Pillow University of Dance and Dance Festival from 1936 to 1960. During the 1950s Lynn filmed dance extensively, notably at Jacob's Pillow. Some of the dancers and companies she filmed include: Anna Pavlova, Barton Mumaw, the companies of José Limón, La Meri, Myra Kinch, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn, among others. Highlights include performances of The Moor's pavane choreographed by José Limón, La valse danced by Le Clercq and Nicholas Magallanes, and Firebird: Pas de deux. These films now reside in The Jerome Robbins Dance Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Following her departure from Jacob's Pillow, Lynn headed the dance program at Baltimore's Peabody Institute of Music in addition to maintaining her own studio until 1952. She died January 20, 1987 at the age of ninety-three.

Carol Lynn (whose given name was Carol Lynn Fetser) enjoyed a varied career as a dancer and educator, but she was best known for her association with Ted Shawn and Jacob’s Pillow. Born in 1893 in New York City, Lynn began childhood dance training at eight, studying folk dancing before the time of wide-spread ballet instruction in the United States. It was during a theatrical performance she attended with her mother when, seeing a dancer on point, Lynn's fascination with ballet began. She was sent to study ballet with the influential Madame Elisabetta Menzeli until the 1920s. Lynn then toured as a professional dancer with a small company that performed in vaudeville until the 1930s. It was at this time that she became more “ballet-conscious” having viewed performances by Colonel de Basil and his Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo in the United States.

Lynn began training at the Denishawn School in 1922, where she studied dance with such prominent teachers as Michel Fokine, Mikhail Mordkin, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn. By the 1930s, she became more involved at Jacob's Pillow by supervising the female students and then taking charge of administering the school. She was administrative director along with Ted Shawn of Jacob's Pillow University of Dance and Dance Festival from 1936 to 1960.

During the 1950s Lynn filmed dance extensively, notably at Jacob’s Pillow. Some of the dancers and companies she filmed include: Anna Pavlova, Barton Mumaw, the companies of José Limón, La Meri, Myra Kinch, Ruth St. Denis, and Ted Shawn, among others. Highlights include performances of The Moor’s Pavane choreographed by José Limón, La Valse danced by Le Clercq and Nicholas Magallanes, and Firebird: Pas de Deux . These films now reside in The Jerome Robbins Dance Division of The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts. Following her departure from Jacob’s Pillow, Lynn headed the dance program at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute of Music in addition to maintaining her own studio until 1952. She died January 20, 1987 at the age of ninety-three.

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