Rosella Hightower

Rosella Hightower 1940

 Rosella Hightower was born January 10, 1920 in Durwood, Oklahoma and she was of Choctaw (Native American descent) and Irish Descent.  She saw the Ballet Russes as a young child and afterwards, like many ballerinas, was bewitched by the dance and wanted to make it her life’s work. Hightower’s Aunt believed her Niece's yearning for ballet was something special so she persuaded Rosella's Mother to let her take ballet classes. Rosella's Aunt helped her find a ballet teacher and her Mother saw how passionate her daughter was about ballet. She took as many ballet classes as she could and with a variety of teachers so she could learn as many ballet techniques as possible, which made her a stronger dancer.

Rosella Hightower received and immediately accepted an invitation from Leonide Massine, the company owner of the ballet Russes de Monte Carlo and lead choreographer. After sailing across the globe to join his company, she got a rude awakening; realizing that she didn’t have a place yet in his ballet company, instead it was an audition. She had to pass the audition with other dancers who had also taken the voyage to join Massine and be a member of Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo. While some dancers would have been upset, Hightower didn’t look at it that way, instead she accepted the challenge to become part of that special world. You could say lady luck was smiling down on Hightower when another dancer dropped out and she got a spot in the Ballet Russes de Monte Carlo.  

Not only was Rosella surprised by the news but so was her family as described in her own words, “Everyone was  beside themselves at home and surprised. It was the first time they realized that it was all going to come true and I was finally on my way. They were very relieved because they could stop sending me money and saving up to buy my passage home. I’m still convinced they started putting money away to bring me home before I ever left Kansas City. So it was very, very exciting.”

Rosella pushed herself to master the steps to reach her goal and trained under a famous instructor Nijinsky’s sister Bronislava Nijinska. She was impressed with Rosella’s dedication and perseverance to the dance, something Nijinska valued as a strong work ethic. Rosella liked Nijinska as well and she remained one her favorite instructors. The other two instructors she liked were Massine, Balanchine and Caton.

Hightower didn’t want to be typecast for roles like she saw happening with other dancers and she was quoted as saying, “I didn’t just learn roles I thought I might have the opportunity to perform. It was my way of learning how new choreographers and other dancers worked.”

Hightower was promoted to soloist in her second year with the company, replacing Alicia Markova in Pas de Quartre, after Markova became injured.  Hightower got another opportunity when Markova fell ill and she replaced her in her role of Giselle. Hightower saw this as a once in a lifetime opportunity being given to her and she was not going to pass this chance up. Hightower also was the replacement for Danilova which is how Rosella became the dance partner of Massine. Rosella could keep up with Massine and gained new respect within the company. Hightower would soon have the opportunity to dance major roles like Giselle, Swan Lake, Constantia, Colloque Sentimental, La Sylphide and Sleeping Beauty all gaining praise from the audience and critics. One critic  John Martin was cited  saying, “Rosella as one of the finest of young ballerinas of inherent brilliance and fluency. Here assuredly is an American ballerina in the full sense of the term.” 

Hightower worked in many different ballet companies after Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. One company she joined was The Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas. The owner was impressed with her role as Giselle and immediately wanted her to join the company. After touring non stop during her performance of Sleeping Beauty, the Marquis and owner of the ballet company unfortunately died. 

Roselle Hightower performed one last stage performance in China with the Grand Ballet Classique de France in 1964, after that, she left the stage and focused on being a ballet teacher. Rosella established her own ballet school in Cannes, France and had pupils such as, Erik Bruhn, Sonia Arova and Rudolph Nureyev.  Even though she left the stage, ballet continued to give her opportunities.  As a teacher, she would guide new stars to the stage.