From the Daily Iowan, 1929

The Tech, Friday, December 4, 1925

Including "Hank the Mule"

Myrio and Desha, Nattova and Rodion, 1928

Found in Illustrierte Magazine; Scherl's Magazin, 4.1928, H.10, Oktober 

    Nattova and "Myrio" partnered for years in Britain before crossing the pond in late 1925 for a gig in the Greenwich Village Follies in New York (starting in December). But at the end of that run, the duo broke up and Nattova was compelled to find another partner. Myrio's replacement, it seems, was G Rodion. Illustrierte Magazin has a photo of that duo as well, also from 1928:

Found in Illustrierte Magazin. Scherl's Magazin, 4.1928, H.2, Februar

Myrio, Desha, and Barte in London, 1931

Two excerpts from an earlier post:

1. Who was G. Rodion? Natacha's partner c. 1927-8 Records found on Ancestry.com:
     -- Gritzanov Rodion (naturalization) Russian Pol Age 32 Feb 4 1929 Manger Hotel Unmarried
     -- April 17, 1928 Petition for Naturalization Gritzanov Rodion ALSO Rodion Gritzanov Has resided in New York since Jan. 1, 1914 Dancer and Actor, Manger Hotel B. Oct 22, 1896 New Macshanitza, Russia Renounces citizenship, Russia, Poland Witnesses: Suzanne Barse, dancer; Martha Arnold, dancer
     -- Radion Gritzanov b. Oct 22, 1896 d. April 1968 ss 125-09-1924 10024 New York, New York, New York, USA

2. Who was Jean Myrio? I've done further looking and have found that, in Britain, Natacha Nattavo (two t's) had a male dance parter, Jean Myrio, and, together, they were called "Myrio and Natacha" or "Natacha and Myrio." The partnership seems to have existed on both sides of the Atlantic, for I've found records of the two in Britain up through September, 1925, but then in the New York area in 1926. By late 1927, however, she was dancing with G. Rodion and Harry Glick. She fired (or had fired) the latter, who sued but lost the suit (see elsewhere). (She explained that Glick was not strong enough to catch her or toss her around and that, besides, there was no need for a second man.)
     - It appears that Myrio's real name (but who knows what's real with this crowd) was Jean Henry [or Henri Jean] Raoul Delteil, a classically trained dancer (and Russian? French?), who later married a famous artist's model, known as Desha Delteil (1899-1980). The two formed their own dance duo and performed in Britain and France in the [1920s and] 1930s:
     - [Desha Deltiel] married Jean Henry Raoul Delteil, known as Jean Myrio, another classically trained dancer from [Michel] Fokine's company. In the 1930s she and Myrio performed at a number of nightclubs in Paris and London, and their dance interpretation of George Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue at the Kit-Cat Club was recorded in a Pathé motion picture review. In 1939 they worked at the Casino de Paris together with Josephine Baker. Jean had a small house in the Dordogne where Maurice Chevalier, with friends Nita Raya and Josephine, were hidden from German invaders during World War II. After the war, Desha and her husband established the first classical dance school in the French town of Bergerac. A French source claims she died in 1980 and is buried in Bergerac. [This is a quotation. Citation?]
     - Myrio's mentor, Fokine, hailed from St. Petersburg and studied at the Vaganova Dance Academy. You'll recall that Nathalie Hoyer studied under Agrippina Vaganova and that she, too, hailed from St. Petersburg, as did our girl Natacha (Petrograd). Good grief.
     - Oddly (or?), our girl Natacha was also a famous model, having modeled for famous artists by (I believe) 1923 (Serge Yourievitch, Emile Arthur Soldi-Colbert). In fact, Natacha Natova (or Nattova) was voted as having the most beautiful figure of any "foreigner"--not sure when. About 1927? Photos of her during that period testify to her beauty.

This, of course, is a photo of Myrio and Nattova's act in London, c. 1925

     No doubt this kind of speculation is unfair, but here goes. It is easily imagined that tensions will crop up for any dancing duo (or trio, etc.) that gains fame. Typically, one person gets more attention than the other(s), justly or unjustly. It is easily imagined that such was the case for Myrio and Nattova (or Nattova and Myrio!) in their years together, starting (I believe) in London and ending in mid-1926 New York. There are indications (see previous posts) that Myrio was irked that Nattova got as much attention, or praise, as she did, drawing light from his own star, and that he sought another arrangement, including his top (or sole) billing with someone less annoyingly captivating. Perhaps these kinds of concerns explain the Nattova-Myrio breakup of 1926. 

     On the other hand, there are indications (again, it is easy to be unfair, working with such sketchy information) that Nattova was a difficult person and difficult to work with: her odd episode with Toots Pounds in London, the violent episode with her protégé (who declared that Nattova was "insane") two years later, the frequent litigation, the peculiar public threats to would-be plagiarists, etc. Perhaps Nattova's demanding and difficult ways grew as her fame grew and, by mid-1926, Myrio had had quite enough. And perhaps that happened with Daks, too. 

     Who knows. A very different (and more flattering) picture is also consistent with the facts as I know them. 

     For what it's worth, though Myrio might have insisted on top billing in the post-Nattova act, he eventually (and soon) commenced flourishing as part of a duo ("Myrio and Desha"), with double billing, with his wife, a real attention-grabber. That lasted for quite some time it seems. 

     Was our girl, Nattova, difficult? That is easily imagined. The evidence is strong but not overwhelming that she was. 

     We are compelled to ask: Why did Nattova's career decline as it did (if indeed it did, and it seemed to)? Had she burned too many bridges? Was it simply a case of the passing fancies of a fickle public? 

     Did she expect more from Daks than the journeyman-like career that he seemed to settle into in the 30s? Did she herself expect to maintain her "star" and then diminish amid the reality of her declining standing? Had she been, for a brief time, a kind of "it" girl—one whose stature depended on manipulation of the press/public or, alternatively, a perfect storm of accident and fortuity? That can be a difficult epoch to live through. Many do not survive it. And some, no doubt, cannot live happily, or at all, when it passes. And perhaps she was a truly outstanding artist whose fame and stature was in some simple sense deserved. But that, too, typically fades—I mean either the artistry or that art's relationship with an always foolish and mercurial public. 

     I cannot imagine Nattova's years, starting in the mid-30s, as anything but sad. It is possible, I suppose, that she sought only to make a living dancing for a motley and inconstant public. Perhaps her increasing distance from stardom, or goddesshood, was no burden for her. But I doubt it. 

     Evidently, by 1940, she lived with Daks in a New York apartment, putatively (or actually?) as his wife. A housewife. But the circumstances suggest that the situation was sadder still. Had she gone (back?) to Daks, not as wife, but only for a place to live, as his career and life marched on essentially without her, as, indeed, it seemed to? 

     But she did survive. Fifteen years later, she settled in Southern California, and she lived a good thirty years longer in the Golden State. How she fared in her obscure second act we'll likely never know. I do hope she fared well, or well enough.

From the New Yorker, Nov 19, 1927.
Evidently, Myrio had partnered with Desha and Barte

Desha Eva Podgoršek (Desha Delteil) Jean Henry Raoul Myrio  and [Leon] Barte, Kit-Cat Club, Oct 1928 (Desha was originally Serbian, came to US at age 12; was a well-known artists' model)

Post litigation flame-out

Did our girl's career decline in the mid-30s?

     So, what was goin' on in the months—the year—after Nattova's November 1934 litigation flame-out? Inquiring minds want to know.

     I scoured Variety from November 1934 to December 1935, and this is what I came up with.

Variety, Dec 4, 1934

     The litigation, of course, concerned a divorce that Nattova had pursued against her husband, Nicholas Daks. I noticed that, during this period, the Variety writers made a point of ribbing Mr. Daks about his muscular legs and his love of (or, anyway, being attired in), um, tight pants. Not sure what that's about. Was his profile raised by that messy business about adultery and such at the end of 1934? How was it perceived by the entertainment (or vaudevillian, or dancer) community? Was Nattova viewed as having attempted a shakedown of that dancer (the alleged adulteress) and her rich director husband?

     I could find nothing about Nattova and Daks from January through February, 1935.

     Ah, yes. Daks and his tight pants again.

     Curiously, in the same show (at the Music Hall, Daks' place of work), we find Nattova with (new?) partners Allen Noyes and Victor Ladd, again with "an adagio trio"—complete with the usual Natacha-tossing. 

     The 1940 census lists a “Victor Ladd,” age about 33 (b. 1907), living on West 56th Street with his wife, Ruth. Born in France (Nattova considered herself to be French), he indicates that he is an actor, as does his wife.

     I could find virtually nothing about Mr. Noyes. An "Allen Noyes" was born in New Hampshire in 1906. Is that our guy? Dunno. Was he related to the famous American dancer, Florence Fleming Noyes (1871-1928)? Dunno.

     

     Again with the tight pants. No sign of Nattova, though. Where's our girl? What's she doing? Has she gone back to France?

Variety, May 8, 1935

     Daks has an adagio act with Helen Leitch, who "wears only the tiniest bit of gold fringe."
     I need to find photos.

Variety, Sept 25, 1935

     Nattova reappears—this time at the Fox.

Variety, Sept 25, 1935

     Is this a step down for our Nattova? I think so.

Variety, Oct 2 1935

     Daks keeps busy—this time with Patricia Bowman.
     But what's become of our girl?
     Elsewhere, I found this:

Superb Floor Show Featuring Natacha Nattova and Hank the Mule Nightly
The Scranton RepublicanScranton, PennsylvaniaThursday, November 7, 1935 Page 3

Scranton Republican, Nov 7 1935

     The "Omar Room" in Scranton? That can't be good.
     I found nothing about Nattova in Variety for the whole year of 1936. (Daks got a few mentions; he seems to have maintained good standing in the dance community, increasingly as a assistant manager or assistant director, for a great many years.) I should mention that I could find nothing about Nattova (in Variety) in the first half of 1937 either (I looked no further). It is possible, of course, that she was active in France or elsewhere during some or all of this period. I seem less successful finding data about Nattova insofar as she was a resident or visitor of France.

Nattova in London, 1925

Found this at CorbisImages. Likely Myrio & Nattova
at the Picadilly Hotel in London, c. 1925

1926: injuries, lost dogs, and "insanity"

Nattova, in Variety, late 1926

     JANUARY: GREENWICH VILLAGE FOLLIES. 1926 was quite a year for Nattova, full of ups and downs. She had only just arrived in the U.S.A. in November of '25. (She sailed the Aquitania to New York on Nov. 6, 1925—Nattova and Myrio's "sailing" to the USA had been noted by Variety on Nov. 4). She and her partner, Myrio, who had been together for years, were signed to perform in the Greenwich Village Follies (G.V.F.), starting in December of '25. (Run: Dec 24 1925 - May 29, 1926)
     As we'll see, she'd eventually be fired owing to her fiery temperament. And she'd lose Myrio as her partner too. It's not clear what caused that.

     Below, we find a description/review of that show, including Nattova & Myrio's efforts in it. She and her partner are "the dance sensation of the show." (The missing part of the article—starting at the bottom of the first column—is in the subsequent image below.) 

Variety, Jan 26, 1926 (a)

Missing part:

Variety, Jan 26, 1926 (b)

     We see that the show (G.V.F.) received a generally positive review here. Nattova and Myrio were standouts:

The dance sensation of the show came via Natache Nattova and Jean Myrio, French team, discovered by Morris Green. Acrobatic and agile, they aroused enthusiasm in both parts of the revue, first with “White Cargo.” The man drops the smallish Mlle. Nattova into the sea from a considerable height. A trampoline is used to break the fall. In the second act and near the close “The Moth and Flame” also ended with Mlle. Nattova accomplishing a drop, this time in full sight of the audience.

     Note Nattova's attraction to danger and action. As we'll see, that would have a price.
     As you'll see, Nattova's association with Mr. Jean Myrio—with whom she crossed the pond—was not to last. They seemed to have a falling out. Over what?

Here's a brief review from the January 2, 1926 New Yorker:

New Yorker, Jan 2 1926

Variety, March 17 1926

     Nattova would have many injuries in the coming years.

Variety, Aug 11 1926

     AUGUST. Wow. As we'll see, it is unlikely that Nattova's partners in this incident included Jean Myrio, for the two evidently broke up at the end of their initial GVF run. Probably, G. Rodion was among Nattova's partners at this point. Harry Glick was a partner let go at about this time. Was he the one who failed to catch her? (See.)

Variety, Sept 1 1926

     SEPTEMBER. A month later, and Nattova (or "Natova") is at the Albee in Brooklyn. What was her recovery like?

Variety, Inside Stuff (vaudeville), Sept 8 1926

     Renoff and Renova complained "anent" (i.e., about) Myrio and Co. "staircase idea." The matter seemed to be settled quickly.

     The writer notes that Nattova, Myrio's former partner, is working in vaudeville as well. The two "split" after the run of GVF.

Variety, New Acts This Week, Oct 6, 1926

     OCTOBER. A month later, and we encounter a further allusion to Myrio and Nattova's splitting, post GVF.

     The writer hints that Myrio was unhappy that Nattova got too much attention. Was that the cause of the Myrio/Nattova breakup? He has changed the spelling of his name from "Jean" to "Gene"—perhaps simply to draw attention to himself—and refuses to reveal the name of his beautiful new partner, a blond. She is not "billed." 

     The last paragraph is odd, and perhaps includes allusions to Nattova's recent fall and the Myrio/Nattova split-up:

This is a good flash-turn, and, as long as Myrio can hold the girl who "supports" him and runs off with the honors, can command time and attention in the best vaudeville and picture theatres.

Variety, Nov 3, 1926

     Yes, but will Nattova remain in the GV Follies? I know that, after the Myrio/Nattova split, still with GVF, Nattova partnered a while, first with two men, then with one, Mr. Rodion. (See.)

Variety, Nov 10, 1926

     NOVEMBER. Nattova, described here as the "dancer of the" GVF show, beat up her protege, an apparent overreaction to the loss of Nattova's dog, the Great Dane Droushka. (See.)

     Nattova was later arrested and provided a story about her protege/servant's having actually sold the dog. That was "refuted" when the dog turned up dead at the animal morgue.

     The protege declared that Nattova is "insane." The judge didn't want to hear about that part.

     Evidently, this story received a week's worth of airplay in the press.

Variety, Nov 10 1926

     ANNOUNCEMENT. Curiously, in the same edition of Variety, we find this full-page ad, by Nattova. She is "tired of imitation." She's about to unveil "a new extraordinary and original dance idea," owned by her and her alone.

     The ad notes that she is presently with GVF at the Appollo in Chicago. 

     But not for long.

Variety, Nov 24 1926

     NATTOVA LOSES GVF GIG. Well, the assault charge goes away when the complaint is withdrawn by Miss Carrol. But Nattova loses her GVF gig over the whole thing. A week earlier, in Chicago, she had been replaced by a dancer named Maslova.
   

Variety, Dec 1 1926

     DECEMBER. Very soon, she finds work at Harry Richman's nightclub where, soon (if not already?), she'll be working with a new partner, G. Rodion.

ADDENDUM:

Variety, Nov 4, 1925

Variety, Dec 2 1925: Nattova & Myrio only mentioned

"You can go off your nut about this act!" (1927)

     So, just what was our girl up to in 1927? (She would have been 22 years old.)

Strand Theatre, opening, 1914

Variety, Cabaret Bills (NY), Feb 2, 1927

     FEBRUARY. No doubt the Richman Club was run by night-club (and vaudeville) performer, Harry Richman. Evidently, he rented the space seasonally; the club was taken over by others the rest of the year. They say he had an overpowering personality, which might explain his failure to make it as a movie actor. (See Puttin' On the Ritz.)

Variety, Feb 2, 1927

     FEBRUARY. I'll see what I can find out about this ballet, "Campusanna." I don't recall seeing anything about  Nattova in such a production. (See composer Charles Previn.)
     She continued to perform at Richman's during this period.

New Yorker, Feb 19 1927

Variety, Vaudeville Reviews, March 16, 1927

     MARCH. The "terpsichorean smash" of the production—i.e., "Pompadour Days" (complete with powdered wigs)—was none other than Nattova and Rodion. They offered "the last word in adagio specialities." "Nattova clicked heavily." 

     Meanwhile, our girl's still at the Club Richman.

Variety, Vaudeville, March 30, 1927

     MARCH. "It is the seventh similar accident in the past 14 months she has been on this side."
     —Side? Perhaps the writer is referring to this side of the Atlantic. Nattova arrived by ship some time in 1925, gig in hand (Village Follies,  I think).

     She tore her ligament (again) at the Club Richman. Is Rodion with her at that club? Seems so.

     Is our girl injury prone?

Variety, April 20, 1927

Variety, May 11, 1927

Variety, Jun 2, 1927

Variety, June 8, 1927

     JUNE. Richman's Club closes (as per usual in the season), and it is moved to the Madrid. Nattova switches to the "prologues," I guess (that's the name for the shows provided along with, typically before, film screenings; this sort of thing was pioneered by Franchon and Marcos). It is a kind of marginal vaudeville, I suppose. Meanwhile, Nate Leipsig, her Club Richman colleague, moves on to vaudeville proper.

Variety, June 8, 1927

     JUNE. OK, so now Nattova is at the Roxy, and it remains to be seen if she'll make the cut. Is this the "ballet" called "Campusanna" referred to in February? Perhaps so.

Variety, Aug 24, 1927

     AUGUST. OK, so it appears that Nattova followed Richman after all—to the Madrid. Is Rodion still her partner?

Variety, Sept 21, 1927

     SEPTEMBER. So, our girl made the cut? Seems so. I'll look up this "Stanley Co."

     Is this regular vaudeville or prologues? I think it's the former. I'll do some looking.

Variety, Sept 28, 1927

     SEPTEMBER. Nattova, a ballet dancer offering cutting-edge adagio, appears to be a big hit in vaudeville! Her act is "dangerous." 

     She and partner Rodion offer "a Cat and Dog Dance" and "a Moth and Flame." A "clean-cut wow."

     Another writer (on the same page; see at right) declares that Nattova is "the ne plus ulstra of everything sensational." "You can go off your nut about this act." I think he did.

Variety, Nov 2, 1927

     NOVEMBER. Something incidental: Nattova's old partner, Jean Myrio, is now dancing with his wife, Desha, and another man. They're doing well, too. (You'll recall that Desha was a well-known artist's model. Nudes, etc.) ("Benny" is, of course, Jack Benny.)

Variety, Dec 21, 1927

Snoozer & friend

     DECEMBER. Here's an odd group. I'll see what I can find out about them.

     Here's what I dug up on "Meredith and Snoozer":

New York Clipper, July 3, 1918

Pacific Coast Review, 1919

New York Clipper, 1919

Billboard, July 14, 1945

Deborah Jowitt, "Time the Dancing Image"

Ruth St. Denis, 1910