Ernestine Myers Morrissey (January 7, 1900 – June 29, 1991), sometimes credited as Ernestine Meyers, was an American dancer,
Ziegfeld girl, and dance educator.
Myers appeared on
Broadway and on
vaudeville stages.[2][3] She toured with Ruth St. Denis's dance company, which also featured
Martha Graham,
Florence O'Denishawn, and
Doris Humphrey at the time. In 1917 she toured in a singing and dancing act with Carl Randall,[4][5] including "a pseudo Egyptian
fox trot in costume with just enough
burlesque in it to give it pep," noted reviewer Giles P. Cain.[6] She wore a purple wig while performing in 1921, creating a "weirdly beautiful" effect, according to Billboard magazine.[7] Her credits included roles in the shows Sinbad (1918), Follow the Girl (1918),[8]Silks and Satins (1920),[9] and Ziegfeld Follies. "Miss Myers is a splendid dancer, and works hard to put her selections over," commented one reviewer in 1921.[2]
From 1923 to 1978, Myers ran a dance school in her hometown.[1][10] She produced, choreographed, and designed costumes and lighting for the school's biennial revue,[11][12][13] which included over two hundred performers in some years.[14]Elise Reiman, a teacher at the
School of American Ballet, was one of Myers' many students.[15][16] In 1976, her photo was part of a
Bicentennial salute to American theatre at the
Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.[17] In 1980 she gave an oral history interview for the
Vigo County Oral History Project.[18]
Personal life
Myers married Chicago businessman Daniel E. Morrissey in 1948.[19] Her husband died in 1949,[20] and she died in 1991, in Terre Haute, aged 91 years.[18]