BALLET CLASS WITH HERCI MARSDEN
Winning Caption
Peter Pan auditions.
—Norm Campbell ’57
Runner-Up
“There’s only a ‘few good men’ at any barre.”
—Linda O’Neil Bednarek ’66
Honorable Mention
Barre Flies
—Jill Mason ’82
This 1966 photo, “Ballet Class with Herci Marsden,” sure generated a lot of creative and fun ideas for captions.
It also generated a pretty wonderful email from Herci Marsden’s daughter.
Marsden’s daughter, Ana Marsden Fox, said her mom was “so surprised to see herself in the spring issue of URI Magazine.” She went on to explain that her mom “was expecting her second child at that time, and continued to teach right up until delivery. The photo at that moment was when she would ask the students to jump. ‘Jump with all you’ve got! Be free and jump!’ ”
According to Ana, her mom is doing well at 82 years old and still teaching in Lincoln, Rhode Island! She sent this more recent photo of her mom, and says her mom “really got a ‘kick’” out of seeing her photo in the magazine.
Thank you, Ana. And thank you, Herci. We really got a kick out of hearing from you!
And thank you, readers, as always, for your caption ideas! Keep ’em coming! •
I loved seeing Herci Marsden then and now! I took her ballet class as an elective sometime around 1973 to 1975 and was so taken with her. She was strong, beautiful, inspiring and unforgettable. Her class was so much fun. Additionally we got academic credit for going to the Boston Ballet and writing a paper about it. Back then you could take enrichment classes for one credit. I took advantage of that every semester and had awesome experiences I otherwise wouldn’t have had time for as a full time student. Most of those classes, like Herci’s enabled me to stay in shape during those intensely academic days. Many thanks to her daughter Ana Marsden Fox for sending Herci’s current photo. She’s just as beautiful as I remember her to be.