Osato, Sono, 1919-2018

Sono Osato (大里 ソノ) was a groundbreaking Japanese-American dancer and actress, who joined the Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo and later performed with Ballet Theatre, and appeared on Broadway, creating roles in the musicals One Touch of Venus and On the Town.

She was born in Omaha, Nebraska, the oldest of three children of Shoji Osato (1885–1955) and Frances Fitzpatrick (1897–1954). In 1925, her family moved to Chicago, Illinois, where her father opened a photography studio. In 1927, when she was eight, she and her sister accompanied their mother to Europe for two years; while in Monte Carlo, they attended a performance of Cléopâtre by Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes company, which inspired Osato to start ballet classes when she returned to Chicago in late 1929. She was accepted as a ballet student by Adolph Bolm and continued with Berenice Holmes, who took over Bolm's Chicago classes when left for California. Holmes arranged for Osato to audition for the Ballets Russe de Monte Carlo while they were on tour in Chicago.

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