Iva Kitchell
Encyclopedia
Iva Kitchell was a concert dancer, dance satirist and comedian.
Born as Emma Baugh, Iva Kitchell was adopted by Robert W. Kitchells, at the age of three. Following years of difficult amateur activity, she found work in the ballet corps of the Chicago Civic Opera Ballet in 1922.
Kitchell was fond of amusing herself by mocking the seriousness of the performances, and was encouraged to develop her talent for comedic mimicry, rather than reprimanded. This was the beginning of her career performing comedic one-woman shows.
Kitchell eventually became a featured performer at Radio City Music Hall
. She also worked with American Ballet Theatre
and gave recitals at Jacob’s Pillow. She performed her one-woman shows extensively in the United States and Europe, including a notable recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall
in 1946. She often billed herself as being assisted by the “Invisible Ballet Company." Kitchell frequently performed without a program, spontaneously selecting from among approximately 50 works, with titles such as, "Fantasy for Body and Piano," "Valse Triste, as shown on a home movie projector," "Bacchanale at the Opera," "Oriental Dance (by an Occidental Girl)," "Pseudo-Voodoo," and "Non-Objective." Ballet and ballerinas were frequent targets for her parody, as was modernist choreographer Martha Graham
.
Kitchell told a Time Magazine interviewer in 1946 "I just think there is something completely ridiculous about anything that is too serious."
Kitchell married painter and aeronautical engineer Stokely Webster
in 1933. The couple adopted a daughter. After retiring from public performing in 1958, Kitchell ran a ballet studio in Huntington, Long Island, and later she and Webster relocated to Florida.
Born as Emma Baugh, Iva Kitchell was adopted by Robert W. Kitchells, at the age of three. Following years of difficult amateur activity, she found work in the ballet corps of the Chicago Civic Opera Ballet in 1922.
Kitchell was fond of amusing herself by mocking the seriousness of the performances, and was encouraged to develop her talent for comedic mimicry, rather than reprimanded. This was the beginning of her career performing comedic one-woman shows.
Kitchell eventually became a featured performer at Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall
Radio City Music Hall is an entertainment venue located in New York City's Rockefeller Center. Its nickname is the Showplace of the Nation, and it was for a time the leading tourist destination in the city...
. She also worked with American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
and gave recitals at Jacob’s Pillow. She performed her one-woman shows extensively in the United States and Europe, including a notable recital at New York’s Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
in 1946. She often billed herself as being assisted by the “Invisible Ballet Company." Kitchell frequently performed without a program, spontaneously selecting from among approximately 50 works, with titles such as, "Fantasy for Body and Piano," "Valse Triste, as shown on a home movie projector," "Bacchanale at the Opera," "Oriental Dance (by an Occidental Girl)," "Pseudo-Voodoo," and "Non-Objective." Ballet and ballerinas were frequent targets for her parody, as was modernist choreographer Martha Graham
Martha Graham
Martha Graham was an American modern dancer and choreographer whose influence on dance has been compared with the influence Picasso had on modern visual arts, Stravinsky had on music, or Frank Lloyd Wright had on architecture.She danced and choreographed for over seventy years...
.
Kitchell told a Time Magazine interviewer in 1946 "I just think there is something completely ridiculous about anything that is too serious."
Kitchell married painter and aeronautical engineer Stokely Webster
Stokely Webster
Stokely Webster was best known as an American Impressionist Painter who studied in Paris. His paintings can be found in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Museum of American Art, the Smithsonian Institution, the White...
in 1933. The couple adopted a daughter. After retiring from public performing in 1958, Kitchell ran a ballet studio in Huntington, Long Island, and later she and Webster relocated to Florida.
External links
- Iva Kitchell Papers at the Newberry Library