Theatre Dance Players, 1950s – 1972; and
Theatre School of Dance, 1940s – 1972
Teachers, Directors, Choreographers: Giovanni and Henriette Giglio
I’m seeking information through newspaper articles, programs, photographs, and personal memory stories for a history project on the Giglio dancers and school. I need names, dates, places, and sources please.
This was a major dance school in Seattle beginning in the 1940s, established in the Green Lake District. It was founded by Giovanni Giglio and Henriette Hansen who later became Mr. and Mrs. They also founded the Theatre Dance Players Company in the 1950s, which performed in many local events sponsored by the Green Lake Chamber of Commerce (Christmas shows, Seafair activities, and open houses at the school).
The Theatre Dance Players also performed in classical concerts, under the musical direction of Denton Rossell, with choreography by the Giglios. This dance troupe also performed in local musical and opera productions (Seattle Civic Opera and Seattle Opera on Wheels); and in live televised original ballets on KCTS (channel 9 in Seattle, e.g. The White Dove Ballet & the Rhapsody in Blue Ballet). Giglio dancers performed in benefits through fraternal organizations. And these were the dancers who performed with the Jose Greco Show when he would bring his dance company to Seattle.
A number of Giglio dancers performed individually with Seattle Opera, in local musical theatre productions, night club revues, and northwest television appearances. Some Giglio dancers had professional careers in other parts of the country and other parts of the world: e.g. NY’s Radio City Hall ballet troupe, Broadway musicals, Las Vegas, and also Europe and Asia. The Giglio company dancers were trained and experienced in various dance arts: classical, musical theatre, jazz and flamenco.
The Giglios moved to Spain about 1972 at the request of Jose Greco who was a world famous flamenco dancer. He wanted Mr. Giglio to teach for him there. Jose Greco’s gain was Seattle’s loss.
Thus far my research has included The Green Lake Public Library and Downtown Central Library; the Green Lake Chamber of Commerce (no longer formally organized); The Museum of History and Industry (MOHAI); the Seattle Times index of newspaper articles covering the years that the Giglios were here. I have also posted to Nextdoor – a web site covering a number of north Seattle neighborhoods including Green Lake.
I was surprised to find a little information on the Giglios on ancestry.com and more that was sent to me by a volunteer with this web site (You might need to log in to ancestry.com for access to this.) https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.northam.usa.states.washington.counties.king/7545.1/mb.ashx
I was surprised to find a little information on the Giglios on ancestry.com and more that was sent to me by a volunteer with this web site (You might need to log in to ancestry.com for access to this.) https://www.ancestry.com/boards/localities.northam.usa.states.washington.counties.king/7545.1/mb.ashx
The following book contains a photo of the Giglio school and some information: Seattle’s Music Venues, book by Jolie Dawn Bergman p.72
Sad to say, I have also found obits for:
Mary Flanagan, who taught for the Giglios in the early years of this school
Gregory Steven King who danced professionally with the Joffrey Ballet and much more
and began his training at the Theatre School of Dance
Cleo Lee King (Mrs. Giglio’s daughter who taught for the Giglios
And a web site for Betsy Haug who has dementia but was a prominent dancer, teacher and choreographer with jazz dance being her specialty.
Any contacts and whereabouts of other Giglio dancers would be much appreciated. This could possibly develop into a book.
Marjorie Rhodes
Seattle Historian and former Giglio dancer
