Nancy Houssels, 1935

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Nevada Ballet Theatre. Photo credit - Wikipedia

A Dancer and Co-founder of Nevada Ballet Theatre.



Born as Nancy Claire Wallace in Piedmont, California. Her passion for dancing started at the age of 3, and in her youth, she practiced both dancing and synchronized swimming. After earning her BA in Theatre Arts from UCLA, Houssels joined a local Dance Company named “the Hollywood Bowl”. At that time, she met Francois Szony, who became her long-term dancing partner. The two performed worldwide and on stages such as Carnegie Hall, Madison Square Garden, and the Ed Sullivan show.

Nancy Houssels came to Las Vegas when she was 31 years old. At first, she and Szony worked at the Dunes Hotel in Casino de Paris, and after 2 years they joined the cast of the Folies Bergere at the Tropicana hotel, where she met her husband – J. Kell Houssels Jr, the president of the Tropicana Hotel. After her marriage, she left the show business to focus on her family, but although she was no longer a performing dancer, her devotion to the arts remained strong, and she became involved in the community, especially working with children.

She served on many boards, chaired the Nevada State Council of the Arts, and promoted funding for arts organizations. In 1972, Houssels established the Nevada Dance Theatre, now called the Nevada Ballet Theatre, alongside Vassili Sulich. The company enabled low-income students to learn to dance from professionals. To this day, the Nevada Dance Theatre has an important role in the Las Vegas community, encouraging integration and creating opportunities.

JLLV Honors Nancy Houssels with Florence Lee Jones Humanitarian Award

Junior League of Las Vegas is honored to recognize Nancy Houssels with the Florence Lee Jones Humanitarian Award at our annual Paint the Town Red Gala for her lasting contributions to the Las Vegas Valley.

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Fun Facts

  • She is a breeder of Great Dane dogs.

Awards

  • Governor’s Art’s Award for Distinguished Service to the Arts
  • Chamber of Commerce Women of Achievement Award

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JLLV Honors Nancy Houssels with Florence Lee Jones Humanitarian Award

Junior League of Las Vegas is honored to recognize Nancy Houssels with the Florence Lee Jones Humanitarian Award at our annual Paint the Town Red Gala for her lasting contributions to the Las Vegas Valley.
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Category: Arts and Philanthropy
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Beyoncé-WWP
Music

Beyoncé, 1981

A songwriter, dancer, actress, and the most awarded female singer of all time.

Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was born in Houston, Texas. Her talent in dancing and singing was discovered at a young age, and by the age of 7, she won her first award at a talent show at her school. She attended a music magnet school in Houston, where she performed with the school’s choir as well as her local Church. At age 8, she and her friend Kelly Rowland joined a group called “Girl’s Tyme,” and together they appeared in the talent show “Star Search.” Beyoncé’s father, Matthew Knowles, resigned his job to serve as the band’s manager. He changed their name to Destiny’s Child, and Beyoncé became the lead vocalist. In 1998, Destiny’s Child released their first album that includes the major hit “No, No, No.” Afterward, they became one of the most popular R&B acts. Two years later, the group released its second album, “The Writing’s on the Wall,” which included the #1 singles “Bills, Bills, Bills,” and “Say My Name.” Beyoncé began to focus on individual projects, and in 2003, she released her first solo album, “Dangerously in Love,” for which she won five Grammy Awards. A year later, Destiny’s Child was officially disbanded. In her second album, “B’Day,” she continued to hit the charts with singles such as “Irreplaceable” and “Déjà vu.” In 2008, soon after she married the rapper and producer Jay-Z, she released her 3rd album “I Am… Sasha Fierce,” that includes the iconic “Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” as well as “Halo” and “If I Were a Boy.” The album, named after Beyoncé’s alter ego, sold 482,000 copies in its first week. For this album, she won 6 Grammy Awards, out of 10 nominations. In 2009, at the age of 28, Beyoncé sang Etta James’s “At Last” at President Barack Obama’s first inaugural ball (she later sang the American national anthem at his second inauguration). In the following years, she founded Parkwood Entertainment, an entertainment company that manages Beyoncé’s products as a brand in music, movies, and fashion. In 2011, her 4th album “4” was released. The album was Beyoncé’s 4th consecutive number-one album in the US. Not long after giving birth to her first child Blue Ivy, she made her first appearance at the Superbowl halftime show. With 268,000 tweets per minute, the performance became the second most tweeted about moment in history. Three years later, she made her second appearance at the national event. In 2013, Beyoncé once again broke a record when her 5th album “Beyoncé” sold more than 800,000 copies in its first weekend. By that, she made history for becoming the first woman to reach No. 1 on the Billboard 200 for five consecutive number-one albums in the US, a record she will break again in her sixth album. In 2016 she released an hour-long film and an album called “Lemonade,” focusing on her reeling from the romantic and sexual betrayal of her partner. This album, too, hit number one on the US Billboard 200. Beyoncé continues to work on music projects, participate in films, and tour around the world. It was once written about her – “Beyoncé doesn’t release albums; she creates cultural events.” Share:This post is also available in: Español Read more...
Carmen Amaya WWP
Arts

Carmen Amaya, 1913-1963

Flamenco dancer and singer, known as the greatest Flamenco dancer of all time.

Carmen Amaya was born in Barcelona, Spain, to a gypsy Romani family. As an infant, she learned to dance from her mother and aunt. When she was only 4, she started to accompany her father in his performances at pubs and clubs. After the show, she picked the coins that the crowd threw on the floor. When she was 6, she caught the attention of a show businessman who booked her shows in better-respected venues, such as the Spanish Theater. The audience loved her, and she became known as La Capitana. In 1929, the 16 years old Amaya performed at the International Fair of Barcelona in front of Alfonso XIII, the King of Spain. A praising review about her in the newspaper Mirador made her famous across the country. For the next few years, she performed in the most prestigious halls in Spain, including the Zarzuela Theatre and the Fontalba Theatre, as well as in films, such as the musical La Hija de Juan Simón. In July of 1936, 23 years old Amaya and her cuadro (a troupe of musicians, dancers, and singers) performed in Madrid when the Spanish Civil War began. They managed to cross the border to Portugal and from there to Buenos Aires, Argentina. There, she continued to perform, and after 9 months, she embarked on a four-year tour through Latin America. In 1941, the company arrived in the US, where Amaya’s fame and reputation continued growing. She performed at Carnegie Hall, was invited to participate in several Hollywood films and the White House. By then, Amaya established herself as a renowned artist with a fascinating personality and sharp wit. Her dancing became known as the most daring flamenco, with constant improvisations and quick and rattling footwork that became her trademark. She broke the rules of traditional female flamenco by adding “masculine” elements and not emphasizing the “feminine” ones, such as upper torso movements. In 1947, at the age of 34, she returned to Europe, performing in Paris and London, before returning to her homeland Spain as a legend, the most outstanding flamenco dancer of her time. She continued to perform across Europe and Latin America for the next two decades. In 1963, Amaya’s health began to decline. Terminally ill with kidney disease, she did not stop performing until she was over-exhausted. On August 8, 1963, she performed her last dance, collapsing in the middle of the show. She died three months later at the age of 50. Share:This post is also available in: Español Read more...
Edith Kenao Kanakaʻole WWP
Arts

Edith Kenao Kanakaʻole, 1913-1979

A Native-Hawaiian dancer, chanter, kumu hula, and champion for preserving Hawaiian culture.

Edith Ke’kuhikuhiipu’uoneonaali’iokohala Kenao was born in Honomu, Hawaii. By the time she was born, Native Hawaiian culture and traditions had been oppressed for decades by Western imperialist policies that prohibited performing the native Hula dance and teaching Hawaiian languages. Even so, Kanakaʻole’s father, a musician, and her mother, a hula dancer, taught their children the traditional Hawaiian arts. Later, Kanakaʻole continued to learn hula dancing with Akoni Mika, a prominent dancer and chanter. In the middle of 7th grade, she quit school and spent time catching fish at the beach and developing her art. In addition to dancing, Kanakaʻole was a talented musician, composing songs and oli (Hawaiian chants), often combining choreographing hula with oli. Her performances gained popularity, and in 1950, Kanakaʻole toured Canada, the US, and several countries in Asia. In 1953, at 40, Kanakaʻole founded the Halau o Kekuhi hola school, where she served as Kumu Hula – the chief practitioner of traditional Hawaiian dance and culture. There, she created a distinct style of hula that derived from the dancing traditions of her native Hilo area. Kanakaʻole’s hula dance has characterized by dancing with deeply bent knees and dynamic movements. Over time, Kanakaʻole’s efforts to preserve the Hawaiian culture expanded into other areas, including the Hawaiian language. The rise of the Hawaiian Renaissance in the late 1960s and early 1970s was the perfect opportunity to promote the cause. She helped develop the first Hawaiian language program at the Keaukaha School in Hilo and the Hawaiian Studies Kupuna Program for the public schools. During the 1970s, Kanakaʻole worked as a teacher at Hawaiʻi Community College and the University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo, where she served as the lead Hawaiian language teacher and established the Bachelor of Arts degree in Hawaiian Studies. In her classes, Kanakaʻole taught all aspects of Hawaiian culture, including genealogy, Polynesian history, ethnobotany, land ownership, myths, and chants. She died of cancer at the age of 65. Share:This post is also available in: Español Read more...
Isadora-Duncan-WWP
Arts

Isadora Duncan, 1877-1927

Mother of the Modern Dance and one of the first famous worldwide modern dancers.

Isadora Duncan was an avant-garde dancer with a novel freestyle which became today’s modern dance, who lived an extraordinary life in all aspects. She was born in 1887 in San Francisco, California, to a family with great appreciation and love of the arts. Her siblings became artists as well. After her parents got divorced, her mother moved the family to Oakland and worked as a seamstress and piano teacher to support them. Since the family was very poor, Duncan began teaching dance lessons to children in the neighborhood throughout her teenage years. Her unique style was already evident in those early years teaching improvisation and freestyle dance. At 19, she started her career as a professional dancer but quickly found that her vision of the art of dance collided with the strict rules of formal dance. From her point of view, the movements of the classical ballet were unnatural, with their exact, pre-written, none fluid, rigid moves. That’s in addition to the uncomfortable corsets and point shoes which were even less natural to the body and its nature. In her vision, each step and movement must be born from the other in an organic succession. Her dancing defined the force of progress, change, abstraction and liberation. The concept of the natural movement of the body was the main key of her unique style, a concept she was willing to take to the edge, and which earned her the fortune and fame she is remembered for to this day. In 1898 she moved to London, where she began performing privately for the wealthy. Her earnings enabled her to rent a studio and develop a grander stage performance. From London, she moved to Paris, and there she attended the Louvre and the Exposition Universelle of 1900. Those experiences had inspired her greatly. The Louvre for its ancient Greek art exposition was a milestone in her vision, and the loosened Greek robe and bare feet became her most identifiable trademark and affected the future of dance. From there on Duncan traveled across Europe and the Americas, performing in her innovative style and developing its technique. Though she became popular and successful, she sought to accomplish her true mission to educate the young. In 1904 she opened her first school in Berlin, and there she taught her vision of dance to young women. Six of her students became the “Isadorables” dance group and continued her legacy. She also adopted them, and they all took her last name. In 1914, Duncan returned to the US and established a school in NYC. She died in 1927 in Nice, France in a strange accident when her scarf became entangled around the open-spoke wheels and rear axle, pulling her from the open car and breaking her neck. Share:This post is also available in: Español Read more...
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