Lodena Edgecumbe
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Lodena Edgecumbe | |
|---|---|
 Lodena Edgecumbe, photographed by Harry A. Atwell in 1920s. | |
| Born | April 1906 |
| Died | 1978 |
| Other names | Lodena Edgecombe, Lodena Edgcumbe, Lodena Armbrust (after marriage) |
| Occupation | dancer |
Lodena Edgecumbe (April 1906 – 1978) was an American dancer and dance educator based in Vallejo, California.
Lodena Francisca Edgecumbe was adopted by Alfred E. Edgecumbe[1] and Sara F. Edgecumbe[2] of Vallejo, California, after she was discovered on a ferry, a newborn infant survivor of the 1906 San Francisco earthquake or subsequent fires.[3] Her birth parents were presumed dead but never identified.[4] She attended St. Vincent's Convent school in Vallejo, with further dance training in San Francisco.[5]
Career
As a little girl, Edgecumbe danced at the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco. She joined the Pavley-Oukrainsky dance troupe as a young woman, and toured with them in the United States, Mexico, and Europe. She danced in productions of the Chicago Opera Company and the Manhattan Opera Company.[6] Later she danced on vaudeville.[7]
When her children were young, Edgecumbe opened a dance studio in Vallejo in 1933,[8] and taught generations of dance students there.[9] She led a troupe of young women dancers, the Lodena Adorables, inspired by Isadora Duncan's Isadorables group.[10] She also conducted the Dancing Masters of California, a continuing education program for dance educators, and served on the Cultural Affairs Committee of Vallejo.[11]