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|
|
Stage Name |
Birth Name |
| John
Tiller / Tiller Girls |
John
Tiller |
| |
Lawrence
Tiller |
-- John Tiller, was a wealthy Englishman who
produced amateur shows and danced as a hobby. It is said he created
the Maypole
dance (he didn't) and the 'Pony ballet' then sponsored
by George Lederer as well as introduced the straight line uniformity
of dancing (The Rockettes
originally were based on the choreography of John Tiller).
John started the Tiller Girls in 1885 in England after watching
a stage play in 1883 called the Gaiety Girl. His troupe was the
'Four Sunbeams' who had a big performance
at the King's Manchester Theater in 1890. The Sunbeam's later
grew into the Tiller Girls. Tiller and his wife Jennie opend a
Tiller dance school in Manchester, England. In certain shows a
Tiller line-up
|
|
could
be as many as 32 girls who were selected for uniform height and
weight. John Tiller died in 1926 but by 1925 (Casino de Paris
- Paris en Fleurs program ) was called the Lawrence Tiller Girls,
John's wife kept the school running until her death in the mid
1930s.
The
Tiller schools remained open and run by Doris Alloway, Barbara
Aitken and R.J. Smith. In 1973 the Tiller school was taken over
by the impresario Robert Luff, with Barbara Aitken remaining as
director and choreographer. It is said it would have taken about
three months to turn a experianced dancer into a Tiller Girl.
--
Basically they do what is called a 'Tap and Kick' routine, which
was originally called "Fancy-Dancing" but today is known
as 'Precision Dancing'. The routines mayconsist
of straight lines or geometric figures. Every tap and kick troupe
has tried to steer away from Tiller's arrangements, but sooner
or later conforms to Tillers methods. After John Tillers death,
his son Lawrence continued the tradition (Lawrence was not
a dancer) however Lawrence dropped all the ballet training.John
Tiller married Mary Carr (1855-1905) in 1873, and Jennie Walker
in 1906, who passed away in 1936.Kracauer
stated in 1923 'These 76 energetic women dance about in geometric
shapes: "The regularity of their patterns is cheered by the
masses, themselves arranged by the stands in tier upon ordered
tier'.
--
Other
groups such as Tiller's were done by: Allan K. Foster Troupe ( The
Roxy), Russell Market Troupe, Gertrude
Hoffman Girls, The
Rockettes, Chester Hale Girls, and the Albertina
Rasch Girls. The Cotton
Club Boys and Girls
also were known to use some of these methods in their dancing,
as well as a dance called the Can-Can
used Tillers ideas. The Ziegfeld
Follies of 1922 featured the Tiller Girls in one of the acts and
was Choreographed by Ned
Wayburn.
--
Tiller died in New York in 1925. His body was brought back to
London and traveled to Brookwood on the special funeral train.
I read that 50 Tiller Girls accompanied him on the train. In 1923
the Stage play Nifties of 1923 feature the tweleve Tiller Girls. |
| |
|
Birth Place |
Birth Date |
Spouse |
Offspring |
| Lancashire, England (J) |
1854 - 1925 |
Mary Carr, Jennie Walker |
Lawrence Tiller |
| |
| The Tiller Girls |
Name |
Birth Place |
Birth Date, notes etc |
Spouse |
| Barbara Ling |
|
Tiller Sextet circa 1928 |
|
| Bunty Gordon |
|
circa 1940s |
|
| Catherine Bartels |
|
Tiller Sextet circa 1928 |
|
| Doremy Vernon |
|
- |
|
| Dorothy Austin |
|
Tiller Sextet circa 1928 |
|
| Eloise Hanford |
|
Tiller Sextet circa 1928 |
|
| Elsie (Clark) |
|
Lila's Sister. |
|
| Gilda
Gray |
|
see page |
|
| Helen Geer |
|
Tiller Sextet circa 1928 |
|
| Helen Jane Greenland |
|
Tiller Sextet circa 1928 |
|
| Lila
Beatrice Clark |
|
died on Stage from heart attack, age 29 |
|
| Lucy
Martin - Fox |
|
circa late 1910s. Danced with Charlie Chaplin |
Mr. Fox |
| Morrill,
Lily |
|
b.3/1904 also a Rockette (still living as
of 2004) |
Mr. Morrill |
| Margaret Holden (Jack) |
|
circa 1940s |
|
| ?Mary
Patterson? |
Glasgow |
c.1920s/40 |
|
| Miki & Griff, aka: "The
Tiller Girls" |
|
circa 1940s |
|
| Peggy
Dorren |
|
b.4/1913, Palladium |
Alf Hunterman |
| Virginia King |
|
- |
|
| Wardle, Nellie |
|
n/a |
|
|
Waugh, Edith |
|
Maurice Chevalier, in Paris
|
Mr. Flint |
| Yvonne
Woodroff |
England |
c.1940s |
|
|
NOTE: The names in blue above
are a direct email links to family members who are looking for
information you may have on their family member. Please check
any info such as Posters, Programs, Flyers, Photo's etc. you may
have and see if it lists any names or info on the above. If you
wont take the time to check for them, why would they take the
time and check for you, what goes around etc. You may answer a
hundred emails before finding that gem you are looking for...
If you do have that info, please drop them a note about it, as
they may have some info for you as well. If you would like to
supply me with the info as well (I will post it here)
it can help others such as yourself who may be able to investigate
their family history further.
|
Dance Types |
Dance Partners |
Music Titles |
| Ballet |
n/a |
n/a |
| Buck
and Wing |
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| Can
Can |
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| Rantomime |
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| Straight
Line Unit |
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| Tap
and Kick |
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| Toddle
(1925) |
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|
Night Clubs |
Theaters |
Stage |
| Folies
Beregere |
American
Theater (1926 St. Louis) |
1922
- Ziegfeld
Follies of 1922 |
| |
|
|
Casino
de Paris (1925) |
1923
- Nifties of 1923 |
| |
|
|
Colliseum
Theater (1952) |
1924
- Ziegfeld
Follies of 1924 (jumped rope) |
| |
|
|
Fulton
Theater (1923) |
1925
- Paris en Fleur (Casino de) |
| |
|
|
New
Amsterdam Theater (1922) |
1925
- Ziegfeld
Follies of 1925 |
| |
|
|
Olympia
Theater (1917) |
1928
- Three Muskateers |
| |
|
|
Palace
Theater (1912) |
1929
- Rumpelstilzchen |
| |
|
|
Winter
Garden |
Three
Cheers (Tiller Dancers) |
| |
|
|
|
Half
Past Eight (1940s) |
|
NOTE:
1) Special thanks to: John
Clark for some Tiller info.
2) In 1949 the office of the Tiller School was under the gallery
at the Ambassador's Theatre end, Upper St. Martin's Lane, West Street
.
3) Tiller Sextet circa 1928. |
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