JANUARY 14, 1925

SHAWNEE-PEORIA BALLERINA EDNA MOSCELYNE LARKIN BORN

Moscelyne was born in Miami, Oklahoma (OK) and raised in Tulsa. Sent as a youth to New York to study dance, at age 15, she joined the Ballet Russe. Marrying dancer Roman Jasinski, they joined Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo. “Moussia” danced lead roles in The Nutcracker, Rodeo, Swan Lake & Scheherazade. In 1954, the couple founded Tulsa Ballet Theater. Larkin also was on the Board of Directors of the National Association of Regional Ballet. With Yvonne Chouteau, Rosella Hightower, and sisters Maria & Marjorie Tallchief, she is one of the “Five Moons”—OK’s Native prima ballerinas.  In 1967, Quapaw-Cherokee composer Louis Ballard wrote the ballet, The Four Moons, to honor their 4 tribal heritages. In 1991, Chickasaw artist Mike Larsen honored them in his mural, Flight of Spirit, hanging at the OK capitol rotunda. Honors: OK & OK Women’s Halls of Fame (1978 & 1993); Dance Magazine Award (1988); and “Outstanding Indian,” Council of American Indians (1993). She died in Tulsa, on April 25, 2012.

Sources:  “Jasinski, Moscelyne Larkin, 1979” Oklahoma Hall of Fame.  Retrieved 2/22/2021, Jasinski, Moscelyne Larkin | 1979 - Oklahoma Hall of Fame (oklahomahof.com)
Toni Annette Foster, “Larkin, Moscelyne (1925-2012),” Oklahoma Historical Society.  Retrieved 2/22/2021, Larkin, Moscelyne | The Encyclopedia of Oklahoma History and Culture (okhistory.org)
Photo:  Moscelyne Larkin, center, with Roman Jasinski (left) and Guy Fraser Harrison (right)
(2012.201.B0308B.0247, Oklahoma Publishing Company Photography Collection, OHS).  Courtesy of Oklahoma Historical Society.