SNOHOMISH — As a Radio City Rockette, she entertained troops during World War II with the group’s famous synchronized, eye-high kicks and sharp dance numbers.
Now, at 92, Eleanor Leight is showing off her choreography and teaching dance. She hasn’t missed a step, coming up with routines and instructing young and old dancers here for nearly half a century.
“She’s absolutely a gem in our community,” said Brenda Chovanak, a coordinator at the Snohomish Senior Center where Leight teaches.
Leight started her professional career at a ballet company in Philadelphia. By her teens, she was teaching, having grown too tall to be part of the cast. Soon after, the company disbanded when the men were drafted to fight in WWII.
Leight turned to tap dancing and in 1942 auditioned for the Rockettes, a precision dance company that then performed four times a day out of Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The Rockettes are perhaps best-known for the grand finale of each show, in which the dancers intertwine arms, form a chorus line and kick in unison. Leight had the look and the legs for it.
“They were very particular about your legs,” she recalled. “I practiced and practiced. Dancers are like athletes. It’s hard work.”
Leight said she didn’t have much trouble with the Rockettes’ grueling schedule but being part of the group demanded near perfect performances. A person would sit in the audience during shows, writing down each dancer’s missteps.
“It was always kind of a worry that you’d make a mistake. If you did, you weren’t there very long,” said Leight, a glamorous, now white-haired woman.
In those days, she had to look her best. Leight would wear dresses that didn’t have to go on over her head as to avoid messing up her hair, which was styled for her performances. Still lean and graceful, she weighs about the same today as she did back then, despite having desserts for breakfast, lunch, dinner and a midnight snack, she said.
Leight traveled with the Rockettes in Europe for a year, entertaining the troops during the war. She tells of being part of the USO for General George Patton’s army and finding herself in the background of photos with Bob Hope and the G.I.s.
“They were really appreciative and loved seeing American girls,” Leight recalled.
The designer uniform she was given to wear was from Saks Fifth Avenue but the travel was less than glamorous. The Rockettes took a ship to France then traveled around Europe by train and in weapons carriers driven by U.S. Army troops. One driver was Dave Brubeck, who later rose to fame as a jazz pianist.
During her time abroad she saw first-hand the horrors of the Holocaust. She visited Nazi concentration camps and sat in when Hermann Goering, a German politician and military leader, was tried for war crimes. She spent time at the Eagle’s Nest, a retreat of Adolf Hitler that was taken by the Allies. At war’s end, the Rockettes performed for officers of the Russian, American and British forces in Vienna.
Almost 70 years later, Leight returned to New York City in 2013 to help the Rockettes alumni group archive the history of the WWII trip. At that reunion, she met Brubeck’s son and shared her memories of his father.
“He was the kind of person who once you met, you were friends,” she said.
After leaving the Rockettes, Leight toured the U.S. for another year with a different dance troupe. She then spent another decade in Philadelphia teaching ballet and performing as a solo act in dinner clubs before she married her late husband, Wes Leight. The couple raised five boys, moving the family to Snohomish in the 1960s.
Leight continued to dance until a few years ago.
“I’m fine teaching now but performing is different,” she said. “Each year, I do less and less demonstrating.”
Today, Leight is the choreographer for the Silver Steppers, a dance group for people older than 55 at the Mill Creek YMCA. There are currently about dozen dancers in the group, some of whom are in their 70s and 80s.
Leight is known for keeping her dancers in line, preferring to be the only one talking while she’s teaching and expecting everyone to perform to the best of their ability.
“She is a stickler, there’s no doubt about it,” said Tom Haller, the Silver Steppers manager. “As an instructor, she’s on your tail.”
Haller, 81, has danced with the group for almost 10 years. He said the seniors can get “testy” when they’re criticized on their performance but Leight, who is “no softie,” pushes them to improve anyway.
“You might hear Eleanor say, ‘Oh, you can do better than that. You have done better than that,’ ” or ‘That was just terrible, try it again,’ ” Haller said. “But then, later, her bright blue eyes will sparkle and with a great big smile, she’ll clap her hands and say, ‘Oh, that was perfect, just perfect.’ ”
Haller said Leight is always trying to make the group the best it can be. The dancers can see their moves getting better by comparing videos of old performances to more recent ones, he said. One such improvement is evident in the “New York, New York” number, in which the seniors swing their canes and kick in unison.
Once they’ve perfected their moves, the Silver Steppers perform numbers such as “The Boot Scootin’ Boogie” and “Rockin’ Around the Christmas Tree,” at different venues in the area.
Haller said dancing has helped him stay active since his wife, Carolyn, died in 2005. He never would have stayed in the group, but he promised Carolyn he would, before her death.
“I’m not a dancer but I’m inspired by Eleanor and the group,” he said. “It’s become my source of life.”
For more than three decades, Leight also led a dance troupe known as the Leight Fantastics. The dancers until 2013 put on several annual performances, including a large vaudeville show in Snohomish. Today, some of the dancers do smaller performances at the Evergreen State Fair and other venues.
“It’s a delightful surprise to find in our little community of Snohomish,” said Brenda Chovanak, the senior center coordinator who hosted one of the group’s shows.
Leight also teaches weekly lessons and hosts dances at the senior center. She instructs a variety of disciplines, including tap, ballet, and ballroom. Chovanak said Leight has a reputation for persistence.
“You don’t tell Eleanor no, you just do it,” she said.
Chovanak’s daughter, Erin, took dance lessons from Leight when she was young. Leight would make the parents get up and do the stretching with the dancers, Chovanak recalled. When Chovanak’s mother visited from Montana, Leight inspired her to take up tap dancing in her late-60s.
Leight no longer teaches children’s dance lessons but she is still a gymnastics instructor for the Lake Stevens School District.
She is hosting a New Year’s Eve dinner and dance party at the Snohomish Senior Center. Anyone older than 21 is welcome. Tickets cost $16.
Champagne will be served at 9 p.m. for those who wish to go home early, and again at midnight. There’s no need to bring a date, as Leight teaches dances for singles and couples alike.
“Some of our seniors are fierce on the dance floor,” Chovanak said. “It’s always a lot of fun.”
Amy Nile: 425-339-3192; anile@heraldnet.com. Twitter: @AmyNileReports.
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