“There is going to be a permanent ballet company in Philadelphia.”

Abstract Catherine tries to make ballet more appealing to Americans by recruiting and training “manly” men with no prior dance experience. She hires Alexis Dolinoff as her partner, répétiteur, and men’s teacher. The Littlefield Ballet gives its first performance on October 25, 1935. The Littlefield School moves into unassuming quarters at 1815 Ludlow Street. By the end of 1935, Catherine has changed the company’s name to the Philadelphia Ballet and premiered The Snow Queen at the Academy of Music. Karen Conrad and Joan McCracken emerge as leading soloists. Catherine choreographs new ballets of her own in 1936 and presents modernist works by Russian-Jewish choreographer Lasar Galpern. Jimmie Littlefield elopes with a Philadelphia widow and moves with her and her young son to a farm she owns called Zacata on the Potomac River in northern Virginia. Catherine eventually buys a bungalow nearby in Montross and the Littlefields use the area as a family retreat.