The Mann Sisters were a hit at Chautauqua,
by Silvia Pettem
When Ethel and Marion Mann were young girls, their mother would invite dancers to dinner, then urged her guests to "teach the girls a few steps."
The sisters' journey to stardom began in 1926 when Ethel won a dance contest. The prize was a year of dance lessons in New York City. Ethel, her sister, and their mother all moved from Boulder to New York. After Ethel's classes, she taught Marion everything she had learned.
While in New York, they watched cowboys at rodeos in Madison Square Garden and learned rope tricks from "cowboy philosopher" Will Rogers.
In addition to the tricks, Ethel and Marion mastered tap, toe, and ballet dancing and sang at the same time. Their first performance in the Chautauqua Auditorium was in the summer of 1926 when Ethel was 22 and Marion was 20.
The Mann Sisters' programs were full of variety. They wore bright orange costumes and were accompanied by 80 dancers and a full orchestra. In addition to dancing to popular songs, they made up skits. Some depicted scenes with cabaret girls, while another included a military march.
In addition to their stage performances, the sisters taught dance classes for Boulder adults and children at the Mann Sisters Dance Studio at 14th and Pearl streets. Then they included their pupils on stage. One of the sisters' acts featured two-to-five year-olds costumed as rose petals.
During the fall and winter, the sisters traveled and entertained aboard cruise ships to the Bahamas, Bermuda, and Cuba. But they came back to Chautauqua during the summers.
A reporter described a skit that was a big hit at the time, but it would not have gone over well with today's audiences. On the corner of the stage was an Indian scene, "with its tom-toms, feathers, and braves."
The reporter stated, "Their reign was short-lived, for in the shadows lurked the western cowboys with six guns and high hats. The cowboys made quick work of the Indians, and the scene closed with a colorful chorus and the rope act by the Mann Sisters."
After their last Chautauqua performance in 1934, the sisters made Boulder County their home. Ethel married Hiram Fullen and settled in Boulder, while Marion married Bob Childers and lived most of the time in Nederland.
The sisters never gave up their love of dancing. When in their seventies, Ethel told a reporter, "It's hard to jump now," then added that she and Marion still had their western costumes but couldn't quite get them zipped.
Silvia can be reached via her website, silviapettem.com