Mary Ellen Moylan: The Ballerina Behind the 1946 Dance Magazine Cartoon

In July 1946, a 21-year-old Mary Ellen Moylan penned an illustrated feature titled “One Ballerina’s Day” for Dance Magazine, capturing a rare, self-authored snapshot of mid-century dance history.

The Rising Star Behind the 1946 Pen and Ink

According to the historical archives of Dance Magazine, the illustrated feature appeared in the July 1946 print edition. Mary Ellen Moylan was already well-established in her professional career by age 21. Having trained early at the School of American Ballet, she spent her teenage years performing principal roles with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo under the stewardship of resident choreographer George Balanchine.

The year 1946 proved to be a pivotal juncture. Moylan stepped away from the Ballet Russe to collaborate with Antony Tudor on the Broadway musical The Day Before Spring. Soon after, she joined the New York City Ballet predecessor, Ballet Society. That November, she debuted the crucial role of Sanguinic in Balanchine’s landmark ballet The Four Temperaments. Maria Tallchief later cemented Moylan’s legacy in dance history by referring to her as “the first great Balanchine ballerina.”

Context Within the Post-War Dance Landscape

The archival layout of that July 1946 issue places Moylan’s cartoon directly between practical industry dispatches. The feature ran adjacent to foot care advice penned by Dr. Horace Worrell, a podiatrist who specialized in treating dancers, and an essay by famed ballet dancer and choreographer Anton Dolin answering common queries from the parents of young dance students.

Beyond the instructional pages, the issue mapped out the diverse commercial avenues available to dancers at the time. Coverage included a behind-the-scenes look at a troupe of a dozen dancers assembled by Jack Cole under a permanent contract with Columbia Pictures to supply choreography for feature films. The magazine also reviewed programs by Alicia Markova, Dolin, La Meri, Pearl Primus, Anna Sokolow, and Merce Cunningham, alongside a profile of the nightclub circuit artists Mata and Hari.

Archival excavation of mid-century publications highlights the evolving relationship between print journalism and the performing arts.

The snapshot left behind by Moylan offers a rare, firsthand view of an era that laid the groundwork for contemporary American ballet.

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