Penny Richards: start (more soon) #WPWP
{{short description|American dancer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ula Sharon
| image = Song of the Flame - May 1926 New Eve.jpg
| alt = A white woman dancer, posing in toe shoes, one hand on a hip, wearing a hat, a shawl, and a short dark skirt
| caption = Ula Sharon in ''Song of the Flame'' (1926)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = March 17, 1905
| birth_place = Spring Hill, Kansas, U.S.
| death_date = January 19, 1993 (age 87)
| death_place = Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
| other_names =
| occupation = Dancer, educator, arts administrator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
'''Ula Sharon Robinson Bergfeldt''' (March 17, 1905 – January 19, 1993), known professionally as '''Ula Sharon''', was an American dancer. She danced in shows on the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] and London stages, and was founder and artistic director of the Kansas City Dance Theatre.
==Early life ==
Ula Robinson was born in [[Spring Hill, Kansas]], the daughter of John Mason Robinson and Lilleth Sharon Robinson.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1922-09-28 |title=Ula Sharon Robinson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/spring-hill-new-era-ula-sharon-robinson/146191274/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=Spring Hill New Era |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1916, young Robinson toured Australia as a [[vaudeville]] performer, accompanied by her parents.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=December 1920 |title=New Dancers Exhibit Grace and Skill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y...on"&pg=PA367#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |journal=Theatre Magazine |volume=32 |pages=367}}</ref>
==Career==
While still in her teens, Sharon made her New York debut in May 1920, in a ballet recital at [[689 Fifth Avenue|Aeolian Hall]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 6, 1920 |title=Ula Sharon, Dancer, Makes Debut. |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp...yt.net/timesmachine/1920/05/06/112659655.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |work=The New York Times |pages=14 |language=en}}</ref> "A bit too heavy, a lack of grace, but great agility of toe manipulation" were the observations of one critic at her debut.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 14, 1920 |title=Ula Sharon and Robert Schmitz at the Aeolian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S...n&pg=RA20-PA21#v=onepage&q=Ula Sharon&f=false |journal=Music News |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=21}}</ref> But another publication noted that she was "a real dancer, not an improvising amateur, overburdened with 'original' interpretive ideas."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 13, 1920 |title=Ula Sharon Displays Skill as Dancer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y...n&pg=RA22-PA43#v=onepage&q=Ula Sharon&f=false |journal=Musical Courier |volume=80 |pages=48}}</ref> Because she was so young, a guardian was appointed, to allow her to sign contracts for her work.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 13, 1920 |title=Guardian for Ula Sharon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T...ron"&pg=PT49#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |access-date=April 27, 2024 |work=New York Clipper |pages=3 |via=Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections}}</ref>
Sharon danced in several Broadway shows, including ''Broadway Brevities of 1920'', ''[[The Greenwich Village Follies]]'' (1922, 1923),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Canfield |first=Mary Cass |date=December 1922 |title=Plays, Pleasant and Unpleasant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w...n"&pg=PA1034#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |journal=The Forum |volume=68 |issue=6 |pages=1035}}</ref> ''[[Music Box Revue]]'' (1924),<ref>{{Cite news |date=1924-12-15 |title=Theatre: New Plays: Dec. 15, 1924 |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,728185-2,00.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |work=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref> ''[[Song of the Flame]]'' (1925),<ref>{{Cite news |date=1926-01-18 |title=The Theatre: New Plays: Jan. 18, 1926 |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,728926,00.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |work=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o...on"&pg=PT227#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |title=Summertime: George Gershwin's Life in Music |date=2019-09-03 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-63541-6 |language=en}}</ref> and ''She's My Baby'' (1928).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bordman |first=Gerald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1...on"&pg=PA486#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |title=American Musical Theater: A Chronicle |date=2001-03-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-977117-2 |pages=486 |language=en}}</ref> She was also in London productions of ''Sunny'' (1926)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=October 30, 1926 |title=A New Musical-Comedy Success: 'Sunny' at the Hippodrome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z...on"&pg=PA827#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |journal=The Illustrated London News |volume=169 |pages=827}}</ref> and [[Rudolf Friml|Friml]]'s ''The Three Musketeers'' (1930).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Three Musketeers (Friml) |url=https://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_t/three_musketeers.htm |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=The Guide to Musical Theatre}}</ref> Fellow dancer [[Ruth Page (ballerina)|Ruth Page]] described Sharon's skills ''[[Pointe technique|en pointe]]'': "Ula Sharon would hop for what seemed like a half hour on one toe—you could shut your eyes and take a little rest and when opened them there was Ula still hopping."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Laird |first=Landon |date=1948-08-21 |title=About Town |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-times-about-townlandon/146191777/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=The Kansas City Times |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zeller |first=Jessica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T...ron"&pg=PT49#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |title=Shapes of American Ballet: Teachers and Training before Balanchine |date=2016-06-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-029671-1 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1921, Sharon was featured on the cover of ''[[Tatler|The Tatler]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/TheTatlerSept.1921 |title=The Tatler |date=September 1921 |pages=cover |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and she drove a [[Electric car|battery-powered car]], billed as "The Smallest Automobile".<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 1921 |title=The Smallest Automobile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X...on&pg=RA1-PA40#v=onepage&q=Ula Sharon&f=false |journal=The Popular Science Monthly |volume=98 |pages=40}}</ref> She endorsed a "nerve tonic", Phosferine, in print advertisements.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 23, 1927 |title=Phosferine (advertisement) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3...pg=PA384-IA1#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |journal=The Sketch |volume=137 |pages=xiii}}</ref> Later in life, she taught dance classes and was founder and artistic director of the Kansas City Dance Theatre.<ref name=":1" />
==Personal life==
Sharon married William Harold ("Perky") Bergfeldt.<ref name=":0" /> They had a son, William. The Bergfeldts were followers of [[Swami Satprakashananda]], head of the [[Vedanta Society]] of St. Louis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ranganathananda Swami |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.242406 |title=A Pilgrim Looks At The World Vol 2 |publisher=Bombay Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan |pages=399}}</ref> Her husband died in 1971, and she died in 1993, in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], at the age of 87. There is a collection of her papers in the [[State Historical Society of Missouri]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Ula Sharon Robinson Bergfeldt Papers |url=https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/kansas-city/k1223 |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=The State Historical Society of Missouri}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{IMDB name|4819983}}
*{{IBDB name|59711}}
*[https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detai...la-sharon-premier-dancer-news-photo/516556676 "Ula Sharon Dancing on the Beach"] (1922), a photograph at Getty Images
*[https://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/dancer-ula-sharon-with-a-model-dove-news-photo/3313950 "Dancer Ula Sharon with a model dove"] (1927), a photograph at Getty Images
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharon, Ula}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category
eople from Spring Hill, Kansas]]
[[Category:American dancers]]
Okumaya devam et...
{{short description|American dancer}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Ula Sharon
| image = Song of the Flame - May 1926 New Eve.jpg
| alt = A white woman dancer, posing in toe shoes, one hand on a hip, wearing a hat, a shawl, and a short dark skirt
| caption = Ula Sharon in ''Song of the Flame'' (1926)
| birth_name =
| birth_date = March 17, 1905
| birth_place = Spring Hill, Kansas, U.S.
| death_date = January 19, 1993 (age 87)
| death_place = Kansas City, Missouri, U.S.
| other_names =
| occupation = Dancer, educator, arts administrator
| years_active =
| known_for =
| notable_works =
| spouse(s) =
| relatives =
}}
'''Ula Sharon Robinson Bergfeldt''' (March 17, 1905 – January 19, 1993), known professionally as '''Ula Sharon''', was an American dancer. She danced in shows on the [[Broadway theatre|Broadway]] and London stages, and was founder and artistic director of the Kansas City Dance Theatre.
==Early life ==
Ula Robinson was born in [[Spring Hill, Kansas]], the daughter of John Mason Robinson and Lilleth Sharon Robinson.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1922-09-28 |title=Ula Sharon Robinson |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/spring-hill-new-era-ula-sharon-robinson/146191274/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=Spring Hill New Era |pages=1 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref> In 1916, young Robinson toured Australia as a [[vaudeville]] performer, accompanied by her parents.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=December 1920 |title=New Dancers Exhibit Grace and Skill |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y...on"&pg=PA367#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |journal=Theatre Magazine |volume=32 |pages=367}}</ref>
==Career==
While still in her teens, Sharon made her New York debut in May 1920, in a ballet recital at [[689 Fifth Avenue|Aeolian Hall]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 6, 1920 |title=Ula Sharon, Dancer, Makes Debut. |url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.comhttp...yt.net/timesmachine/1920/05/06/112659655.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |work=The New York Times |pages=14 |language=en}}</ref> "A bit too heavy, a lack of grace, but great agility of toe manipulation" were the observations of one critic at her debut.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 14, 1920 |title=Ula Sharon and Robert Schmitz at the Aeolian |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S...n&pg=RA20-PA21#v=onepage&q=Ula Sharon&f=false |journal=Music News |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=21}}</ref> But another publication noted that she was "a real dancer, not an improvising amateur, overburdened with 'original' interpretive ideas."<ref>{{Cite journal |date=May 13, 1920 |title=Ula Sharon Displays Skill as Dancer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=y...n&pg=RA22-PA43#v=onepage&q=Ula Sharon&f=false |journal=Musical Courier |volume=80 |pages=48}}</ref> Because she was so young, a guardian was appointed, to allow her to sign contracts for her work.<ref>{{Cite news |date=October 13, 1920 |title=Guardian for Ula Sharon |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T...ron"&pg=PT49#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |access-date=April 27, 2024 |work=New York Clipper |pages=3 |via=Illinois Digital Newspaper Collections}}</ref>
Sharon danced in several Broadway shows, including ''Broadway Brevities of 1920'', ''[[The Greenwich Village Follies]]'' (1922, 1923),<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Canfield |first=Mary Cass |date=December 1922 |title=Plays, Pleasant and Unpleasant |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=w...n"&pg=PA1034#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |journal=The Forum |volume=68 |issue=6 |pages=1035}}</ref> ''[[Music Box Revue]]'' (1924),<ref>{{Cite news |date=1924-12-15 |title=Theatre: New Plays: Dec. 15, 1924 |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,728185-2,00.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |work=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref> ''[[Song of the Flame]]'' (1925),<ref>{{Cite news |date=1926-01-18 |title=The Theatre: New Plays: Jan. 18, 1926 |url=https://content.time.com/time/subscriber/article/0,33009,728926,00.html |access-date=2024-04-27 |work=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Crawford |first=Richard |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o...on"&pg=PT227#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |title=Summertime: George Gershwin's Life in Music |date=2019-09-03 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-63541-6 |language=en}}</ref> and ''She's My Baby'' (1928).<ref>{{Cite book |last=Bordman |first=Gerald |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1...on"&pg=PA486#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |title=American Musical Theater: A Chronicle |date=2001-03-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-977117-2 |pages=486 |language=en}}</ref> She was also in London productions of ''Sunny'' (1926)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=October 30, 1926 |title=A New Musical-Comedy Success: 'Sunny' at the Hippodrome |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z...on"&pg=PA827#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |journal=The Illustrated London News |volume=169 |pages=827}}</ref> and [[Rudolf Friml|Friml]]'s ''The Three Musketeers'' (1930).<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Three Musketeers (Friml) |url=https://www.guidetomusicaltheatre.com/shows_t/three_musketeers.htm |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=The Guide to Musical Theatre}}</ref> Fellow dancer [[Ruth Page (ballerina)|Ruth Page]] described Sharon's skills ''[[Pointe technique|en pointe]]'': "Ula Sharon would hop for what seemed like a half hour on one toe—you could shut your eyes and take a little rest and when opened them there was Ula still hopping."<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Laird |first=Landon |date=1948-08-21 |title=About Town |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-kansas-city-times-about-townlandon/146191777/ |access-date=2024-04-28 |work=The Kansas City Times |pages=5 |via=Newspapers.com}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Zeller |first=Jessica |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=T...ron"&pg=PT49#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |title=Shapes of American Ballet: Teachers and Training before Balanchine |date=2016-06-01 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-029671-1 |language=en}}</ref>
In 1921, Sharon was featured on the cover of ''[[Tatler|The Tatler]]'',<ref>{{Cite book |url=http://archive.org/details/TheTatlerSept.1921 |title=The Tatler |date=September 1921 |pages=cover |via=Internet Archive}}</ref> and she drove a [[Electric car|battery-powered car]], billed as "The Smallest Automobile".<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 1921 |title=The Smallest Automobile |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X...on&pg=RA1-PA40#v=onepage&q=Ula Sharon&f=false |journal=The Popular Science Monthly |volume=98 |pages=40}}</ref> She endorsed a "nerve tonic", Phosferine, in print advertisements.<ref>{{Cite journal |date=February 23, 1927 |title=Phosferine (advertisement) |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3...pg=PA384-IA1#v=onepage&q="Ula Sharon"&f=false |journal=The Sketch |volume=137 |pages=xiii}}</ref> Later in life, she taught dance classes and was founder and artistic director of the Kansas City Dance Theatre.<ref name=":1" />
==Personal life==
Sharon married William Harold ("Perky") Bergfeldt.<ref name=":0" /> They had a son, William. The Bergfeldts were followers of [[Swami Satprakashananda]], head of the [[Vedanta Society]] of St. Louis.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Ranganathananda Swami |url=http://archive.org/details/dli.ernet.242406 |title=A Pilgrim Looks At The World Vol 2 |publisher=Bombay Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan |pages=399}}</ref> Her husband died in 1971, and she died in 1993, in [[Kansas City, Missouri]], at the age of 87. There is a collection of her papers in the [[State Historical Society of Missouri]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=Ula Sharon Robinson Bergfeldt Papers |url=https://collections.shsmo.org/manuscripts/kansas-city/k1223 |access-date=2024-04-27 |website=The State Historical Society of Missouri}}</ref>
==References==
{{reflist}}
==External links==
*{{IMDB name|4819983}}
*{{IBDB name|59711}}
*[https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detai...la-sharon-premier-dancer-news-photo/516556676 "Ula Sharon Dancing on the Beach"] (1922), a photograph at Getty Images
*[https://www.gettyimages.ae/detail/news-photo/dancer-ula-sharon-with-a-model-dove-news-photo/3313950 "Dancer Ula Sharon with a model dove"] (1927), a photograph at Getty Images
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharon, Ula}}
[[Category:1905 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category
eople from Spring Hill, Kansas]][[Category:American dancers]]
Okumaya devam et...