Sono Osato

Although she never adopted a Russian stage name, Sono Osato made her reputation as a ballerina with Wassily de Basil's Ballets Russes (nicknamed 'Nonotchka' by other members of the troupe). She was born in Omaha, of mixed ethnic parentage: her father Shoji was a Japanese photographer, her Irish-French Canadian mother an aspiring actress of somewhat Bohemian temperament. Strong-willed, (Agnes de Mille described her as "brave and sweet, but nobody's fool"), Osato knew what she wanted to become after seeing Léonide Massine dance in "Cleopatre". After a period of intense training in Chicago, her tutor and mentor (ex-ballerina Berenice Holmes) set up an audition in Monte Carlo and Osato was able to join the Ballet Russe at the age of 14 (at the time, the youngest dancer to perform with the company, paid just $25 a week). Though performing in ballerina roles for six years, she was not promoted to premier danseuse nor did she receive the pay that was consummate to leading roles. Frustrated, s