Ballerina. One of the first American Indians to headline with a major company, she followed her time on stage with a long career as a ballet director and teacher. Born Edna Moscelyne Larkin to a Russian mother and a Shawnee-Peoria father, she received her initial dance training from her mother before traveling to New York City for further schooling. Moscelyne joined the Original Ballet Russe in 1941 and received praise on both sides of the Atlantic, during a South American tour meeting her future husband, Polish dancer Roman Jasinski. The couple married in 1943 and in 1948 joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo where Moscelyne was designated Prima Ballerina. She excelled in comedic roles, was particularly praised as a Can Can Dancer in "Gaite Parisienne" and as a Cowgirl in Aaron Copland's "Rodeo", but retired following the 1954 birth of her son and relocated with her family to Oklahoma where in 1956 the couple founded the Tulsa Civic Ballet, a group which in time became nationally renowned. She was elected to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1978, received the Dance Magazine Award in 1988, was recognized as one of five American Indian ballerinas depicted on a mural in the rotunda of the Oklahoma State Capitol, and in 2007 was again honored with the dedication of a series of statues collectively called "The Five Moons" in the garden of the Tulsa Historical Society. She died of pneumonia occurring as a complication of Alzheimer's Disease.
Ballerina. One of the first American Indians to headline with a major company, she followed her time on stage with a long career as a ballet director and teacher. Born Edna Moscelyne Larkin to a Russian mother and a Shawnee-Peoria father, she received her initial dance training from her mother before traveling to New York City for further schooling. Moscelyne joined the Original Ballet Russe in 1941 and received praise on both sides of the Atlantic, during a South American tour meeting her future husband, Polish dancer Roman Jasinski. The couple married in 1943 and in 1948 joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo where Moscelyne was designated Prima Ballerina. She excelled in comedic roles, was particularly praised as a Can Can Dancer in "Gaite Parisienne" and as a Cowgirl in Aaron Copland's "Rodeo", but retired following the 1954 birth of her son and relocated with her family to Oklahoma where in 1956 the couple founded the Tulsa Civic Ballet, a group which in time became nationally renowned. She was elected to the Oklahoma Hall of Fame in 1978, received the Dance Magazine Award in 1988, was recognized as one of five American Indian ballerinas depicted on a mural in the rotunda of the Oklahoma State Capitol, and in 2007 was again honored with the dedication of a series of statues collectively called "The Five Moons" in the garden of the Tulsa Historical Society. She died of pneumonia occurring as a complication of Alzheimer's Disease.
Bio by: Bob Hufford
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