By Marilyn May
Milford History
The Ballerina Butterflies who danced in “Fantasy in the Park” in the 1954 recital are (standing) Carol Guyott, Linda Roberts, Patricia Botte, Gail Harrison, Mel Moger and Sharon Enger. Seated from left are Susan Johnson and Marcia Arlanian. Photo courtesy of the Children’s Theatre Work-shop.
“Miss Connie” taught hundreds of Milford children what fun it was to put on their very first tap shoes, especially when they didn’t know the sounds the shoes could make. Just walking across the studio dance floor and getting in line was a revelation in sounds.
She would greet the class, and then the fun began. “Miss Connie” was Constance Moore, who taught many little girls (and a few boys) to tap dance and perform ballet in classes at the Children’s Theatre Workshop that she founded in the early 1950s. In private life she was Mrs. John Sullivan of Wallingford.
Her first instruction to a tap class was to take a “step” and then combine “Step, shuffle, toe, heel.” Over and over, it was “Step, shuffle, toe, heel.” That meant “step” on one foot, “shuffle” the other foot ending with a “toe” tap, then landing back on the “heel” of the other foot. Lo and behold, eventually the class did it all in unison. Look out Radio City Music Hall Rockettes.
The children “Miss Connie” taught, no matter what age, came away from classes with feelings of accomplishment and confidence.
Halfway through each class it was time to change from tap shoes to ballet slippers. Then gripping the horizontal ballet barre with one hand, little dancers would stretch through ballet positions, such as plié and tendu, while learning graceful arm positions as well. These exercises taught balance and poise while strengthening muscles.
Moore was an attractive woman, a tall redhead who wore long eyelashes and the brightest scarlet lipstick. She grew up around “show people” in her early years, because her father, a graduate of Baltimore’s Peabody Conservatory of Music, was the musical director for many shows throughout the country. Her musical training started at age 4, when her father began to teach her to play the piano.
The program notes from one of the Children’s Theatre Workshop recitals states, “Each summer ‘Connie’ visited her aunt in Milford, and after the death of her father in 1931, the family settled here where she finished her grammar school and high school years (MHS Class of 1938).”
It was during these years that she began to study dance.
“After graduation,” the program continues, “she taught dancing for three years and then after three seasons in summer stock, she obtained the leading role with the road company of Billie Rose’s ‘Gay Nineties Revue.” Rose was a prominent Broadway producer who staged spectacular musicals.
After World War II, Moore was a teacher and supervisor for Arthur Murray dance classes, where she again started teaching tap and ballet to children.
What these program notes don’t tell you is that she was loved by all her students. And it was her joy to find that the children looked forward to dance class as much as she did. Her belief was that “Regardless of talent, a child may receive a delightful satisfaction from the lesson if the steps and routines are kept within the child’s world.”
“Even the most talented of children,” she wrote in her recital program, “may become discouraged if not taught to love the art first.” As part of dance education, she believed, “it is important for the student to share what (has been) learned with family and friends.”
She never sold tickets or charged anyone who came to the year-end recitals. She considered recitals as “part of the season of training,” and she nearly filled the former Milford High School auditorium every spring.
For the 1954 recital, Moore made up 50 original routines for 80 children. Each child, from age 4 to 16, danced in two numbers with cute costumes they were allowed to keep.
The program included this advice: “Costumes, whenever possible, have been made to be worn as a part of regular clothing through summer months. Skirts can be lengthened and trim removed. Many such details are taken into consideration when the recital is being planned by the teacher.”
The finale had all 80 dancers come on stage for one final bow, and each child was carrying a small bouquet of flowers. That was a surprise.
“Most students spent only a few years taking dance lessons, but “Miss Connie” gave them enough happy memories to last a lifetime.
At the end of each weekly class, children would line up to say “Goodbye, Miss Connie.”
Marilyn May is a lifelong resident of Milford and is on the board of the Milford Historical Society.