Rosalie & Alva - School Of Ballet - History

Rosalie has been working as a soloist since she was twelve. She started her training at the age of six in a small town in Missouri. When her family moved to Hollywood, she quickly turned professional. Her first job was at the Paramount Theater in downtown Los Angeles in 1934. It was a show for Fanchon and Marco and she received one dollar a day for a week. Later she danced with the Okransky Ballet Company, San Francisco Ballet Company, and Misho Ito's dance group. Her first big break came when she was fifteen and chosen out of hundreds of girls to dance in the movie "Balalaika". Her dancing was very spectacular and she was especially gifted in turns. So her mother got her an agent, Lotti Horner, who groomed her to be another Harriet Hoctor. She was featured in many clubs and theaters including the Greek Theater, Hollywood Bowl and Shrine Auditorium. She met her husband in 1940 when she was dancing at the Miramar Hotel. Her husband along with Maria and Margie Tallchief were in her corps de ballet. She was George Murphy's dance partner in the movie "Step Lively" when she was nineteen. This movie starred Frank Sinatra in 1944 and was one of his first movies.

Alva was born on a little island in the Adriatic Sea called Vis which was then a part of the Austrian Empire. He migrated to the United States when he was sixteen. He started his dancing in the little town of San Pedro with Ruth Spear when he was twenty. He and his partner danced in the "Discoveries of 1936". They won the contest in their category which was presented at the Wilshire Ebell Theater. Before the war, Alva worked with the Federal Theaters in the Lester Horton group for about a year. From there he got a job replacing Andre Eglesky in the picture "The Great Victor Herbert" at Paramount Studios. He doubled for John Hall in "South of Pago Pago" doing Samoan dancing including twirling the bolo knife. While most of his movies were related to dancing, he also had speaking parts in "My Sister Eileen" with Rosalind Russell and Janet Blair, and "International Squadron" starring Ronald Reagan. One of his most treasured memories is when he danced in Bronislav Nijinska's production of Ravel's "Bolero" at the Hollywood Bowl with Marie and Marjorie Tallchief and Cyd Charisse.

Rosalie and Alva started their career as a dance team in 1941, the year they were married. They were some of the pioneers of television, dancing on the Spade Coolie show on KTLA with Stan Chambers, and performing in the Radebough Melodiers. They danced at the Coconut Grove, Tom Brenamen's, Biltmore Hotel, Florentine Gardens, many theaters, and several movie studios together. They worked as a team from 1941 to 1956, travelling in this country and abroad. Performing in Yugoslavia in 1956, Rosalie became pregnant with her second son. In 1952, her husband built her a beautiful dance studio and theater in San Pedro, his first port of embarkation in America. They settled down to a teaching career and performed in their own productions.

Today they live a quiet life together on their three-quarters of an acre of land in Rancho Palos Verdes. Alva is 88 and Rosalie is 80. They have just celebrated their 63rd wedding anniversary.

Unable to locate professional equipment for their studio, Alva began making products now available internationally.