Author: un regard oblique

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Harriet Hoctor by Steichen

Edward Steichen ~ American dancer Harriet Hoctor on pointe with arms stretched, wearing all black [unpublished (?)] | src Conde Nast via getty images

Hoctor (Sept. 25, 1905 – June 9, 1977) started touring with vaudeville companies at age 16 on the same bill as the Duncan Sisters. She was asked to join their act and became a key player in their Topsy and Eva show on Broadway. She was discovered by Florenz Ziegfeld, who cast her in his production of The Three Musketeers (1928) and several other shows followed throughout the next decade.

By the time these photos were taken she was back in the States after a season at the London Hippodrome (in a production called Bow Bells). She appeared in the Vanities revue of Earl Carroll in 1932, and later in the decade in the Ziegfeld Follies, notably in a ballet arranged by Hoctor with the aid of George Balanchine titled Night Flight.

Edward Steichen ~ American dancer Harriet Hoctor standing on toe point, with arms raised above head and wearing a black costume [unpublished (?)]. | src Conde Nast via getty images
Edward Steichen ~ American dancer Harriet Hoctor on point in an arabesque, wearing a black costume and black cap. Vanity Fair, 1932 | src Conde Nast via getty images
Edward Steichen ~ Harriet Hoctor. Unpublished photograph in a black costume, en pointe, with her arms in front her, 1934 (or 1932?). Vanity Fair | src Condé-Nast store ~ Fine Art