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.