Long before thousands of children and women passed through her Winnetka dance school, before she welcomed titans of classical ballet into her home, Florence Voss’ own career as a soloist took her across Europe and to Broadway.
“She was a pioneer in going to Europe and dancing all over the place without any agents,” said her longtime friend and fellow ballet enthusiast Weona “Cuz” Sutton. “She’s nothing but the best. She was very analytical about her profession and very talented as well.”
Mrs. Voss, 93, born in Chicago and a longtime resident of the North Shore, died Monday, June 19, at a retirement community in Mequon, Wis., of congestive heart failure.
She was the longtime owner and instructor of the Florence Voss School of Dance. She opened the studio in 1954 at the Winnetka Community House, introducing scores of dancers to ballet until her retirement 30 years later.
Mrs. Voss’ passion for the art began when she was a child, said her daughter Rana Holbrook.
“I remember her saying that when she was little she had a stuttering problem and her parents thought ballet would help her,” her daughter said. “She just fell in love and the stuttering stopped.”
When she was 17, she launched her professional career by joining a ballet company in New York, her daughter said.
Mrs. Voss, remembered by family and friends as modest, rarely mentioned dancing in Europe. Holbrook said she never grasped the scope of her mother’s career until she began planning a 90th birthday party for her.
Tucked amid old papers, Holbrook found glamorous photos of a young Florence Kaup, bedecked in dazzling costumes. Newspaper clippings revealed that she had danced before Prince Edward and Wallis Simpson, the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. In a diary, the ballerina noted cities where she had danced: Paris, Berlin, Venice.
In 1940, Mrs. Voss, under the stage name Sigrid Dagnie, shared a Broadway stage with June Allyson and Jack Haley, best known as the Tin Man in “The Wizard of Oz,” her daughter said. She was a soloist in the show “Higher and Higher.”
When she returned to Chicago, she married attorney Howard Voss in 1942. She also graduated from the University of Chicago with a bachelor’s degree in nutrition.
Her husband would act as the soundman for her pupils’ performances. Mr. Voss died in 1997.
Mrs. Voss encouraged women to take up ballet for its health and fitness benefits, Sutton said. A 1956 Tribune story featured a women’s class at her dance school.
Mrs. Voss often hosted touring dancers from the New York City Ballet when they performed in Chicago during the 1960s and ’70s. Among them were celebrated dancers Edward Villella and Patricia McBride.
“I loved her. I adored her,” Villella said. “They just made me feel at home. When you’re on tour, you’re kind of in battle conditions. It’s nice to come off the battlefield.”
“You met Florence once and you feel like you’re friends,” McBride said. “We looked forward to seeing her in Chicago. She was so young and full of life and just passionate about dance. Her spirit will be remembered for a long, long time.”
In addition to her daughter, Mrs. Voss is survived by five grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.
Private services will be held Friday in Winnetka.
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tmaxwell@tribune.com
