Xenia Zarina (1903 – August 15, 1967), born June Zimmerman, was an American dancer.
Early life
June Zimmerman was the daughter of Oliver Brunner Zimmerman and Grace Adele Bushnell Zimmerman. Contrary to some accounts of her early life,[1] both of her parents were born in the American Midwest. Her father was a military engineer during World War I,[2] who taught at the University of Wisconsin[3][4] and the University of California,[5] and wrote a manual for tractor engine maintenance.[6] She graduated from Lyons Township High School in Illinois, and studied dance with Michel Fokine and other Russian dancers.[7][8]
Career
Zarina danced with the Chicago Opera Civic Ballet as a young woman,[9][10] and gave dance recitals for community groups in the midwest.[11][12] She appeared as a dancer in films Morning Judge (1926) and Chucho el Roto (1934). In 1935, she made her New York debut at the Guild Theatre, in a program of regional Mexican and "interpretive" dances with elaborate costumes.[13]
She traveled in Mexico[14] and many Asian countries[15][16] during the 1930s and 1940s, studying, performing, and teaching traditional dances.[9][17] She studied with Matsumoto Kōshirō VII in Japan.[18] For a time, when her travels were restricted during World War II,[7] she taught dance to the daughter of the Shah of Iran.[19][20] While in Iran, she worked with a fellow American expatriate, Nilla Cram Cook, who held a high position in Iran's Ministry of Education.[21]
