DANCING LESSONS

St. Louis Park was settled by stern-eyed New Englanders who probably didn’t approve of dancing. But come the 20th Century, dancers were springing up (as it were) and after World War II, there was a tremendous need to teach dancing to the children who were flooding into town. Fortunately, there were many opportunities to learn to dance. Some of the best known instructors were:
 

Dorothy Henry was an internationally famous dancer who came to the Park in 1946, first in the Park Theater Building. In 1966 she built a home studio at 4200 Yosemite Ave.

Micki Carlisle began her dancing in Minneapolis at the age of 14 – in the Roaring Twenties – to bring in money for her family. She performed towards the end of vaudeville, then moved to New York City in the 1940’s, where she got her big break doing a Spanish dance. After a busy career in New York, in the 1950’s she returned to the Twin Cities and made her home in St. Louis Park. Back in town, she danced at Curly’s nightclub and started a dance studio with friend Dorothy Lewis, a famous ice skater. The MickRae Studio on Penn Ave. was the site of parties that featured guests like Liberace (who once made hors d’oeuvres). In her 60’s, Micki started the Satin Dolls, a group of tap dancing seniors who perform throughout the Twin Cities. Micki died on July 30, 1994 at the age of 76.

The Verna Golden Dancing School operated out of 4108 Xenwood in 1947.

The Gretchen Palen School of Dancing, featuring tap, ballet, acrobatic, and baton, was located at 3925 Yosemite beginning in October 1949 until at least 1953.

On November 5, 1951, the Lundstrum School of Dance and Modeling (23 years of experience) opened at the American Legion Hall.

In January 1953, one could take a course in Creative Dramatics at 4100 Excelsior Blvd. (the site of the Park Nursery). The classes, geared to ages 6-14, were taught by Dorothy Zieske and Clara Turngren.

Emma Henry (apparently no relation to Dorothy) had a studio at 1460 Jersey in 1958.

In 1959, the Maxine Raver Dancing School was located at 2066 Flag, and also offered classes in adult figure control.

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This information comes from a variety of sources: newspapers, books, yearbooks, phone directories, interviews, etc. Given the varied sources, we cannot guarantee that all of this information is correct, and welcome any additions and corrections. Please contact us with your contributions and comments.