Biographie
Although she never took on a Russian stage name, Sono Osato earned her acclaim as a ballerina with Wassily de Basil's Ballets Russes (where fellow dancers nicknamed her 'Nonotchka'). Born in Omaha to a diverse heritage—her father Shoji was a Japanese photographer, and her mother, an Irish-French Canadian with an artistic, somewhat Bohemian spirit, aspired to be an actress—Osato was determined from a young age. Agnes de Mille described her as “brave and sweet, but nobody’s fool.” Inspired by Léonide Massine’s performance in "Cleopatre," Osato knew she wanted to be a dancer. After rigorous training in Chicago under the guidance of former ballerina Berenice Holmes, she auditioned in Monte Carlo and joined the Ballet Russe at just 14, making her the youngest dancer in the company at the time, earning $25 a week. Although she danced in ballerina roles for six years, she was never promoted to premier danseuse nor compensated commensurately with leading roles. Frustrated, she left to join the American Ballet Theater, where she became a modern ballet star and won a Donaldson Award for best female dancer for her role in the 1943 Broadway production of "One Touch of Venus," choreographed by De Mille. From December 1944 to February 1946, she starred as Ivy Smith, the original 'Miss Turnstiles,' in "On the Town," a role later famously portrayed by Vera-Ellen in the 1949 MGM musical.
Osato also appeared in other stage productions, television, and had a film role in the campy musical The Kissing Bandit (1948) alongside Frank Sinatra. However, her career declined following Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor. Despite her brother serving in the U.S. Army in Italy, her father was interned as an enemy alien, and Osato faced racial discrimination. She was compelled to adopt her mother's maiden name, performing as Sono Fitzpatrick, and was barred by the federal government from touring with the Ballet Theater in California and Mexico. Later, after speaking at a gathering of refugees from Franco’s Spain, she was blacklisted by the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and ceased dancing by the late 1950s. Osato spent her later years in New York, married to Moroccan architect and entrepreneur Victor Elmaleh. In 2006, she established the Sono Osato Scholarship Program for Graduate Studies at Career Transition For Dancers. Her autobiography, Distant Dances, was published in 1980.
