Eleanor Chapin glides across her studio dance floor like a teenager. She leaps, bends and twirls in sync with upbeat jazz music she labels “motivating.”
Dancing makes her happy. And at age 76, it is still the core of her life.
“I dance everyday unless I'm playing tennis,” said Ms. Chapin, who opened Chapin's Dance Studio one year ago. “My preference is modern ballet, but I do all kinds of dancing.”
Ms. Chapin's career began in the 1930s at the Boston Conservatory of Music, where she studied form, dance and anatomy. Before leaving Boston, she had danced with the Boston Pops Orchestra.
By 1940, Ms. Chapin had made her way to New York City for a chance at big time.
“I took classes from all kinds of dance groups. I danced on Broadway with Katherine Dunham, a black dancer who was the toast of Broadway. Katherine did primitive dance that sprang from the Island. She was wonderful. She gave black dancers a chance to be seen, and that was in the 40s.”
In New York Ms. Chapin met her husband-to-be, a government employee. They married and moved to Pennsylvania.
“I had my first child in Pennsylvania when I was doing my first TV show. And I taught dance and theater wherever I was. But my kids started getting acting parts at an early age, so I became a stage mom instead of proceeding with my own career. One of my sons played with Mary Martin on Broadway.”
The Chapins divorced while their three children were young, so Ms. Chapin taught exercise classes at health clubs to support her family.
“At times my kids made a lot of money acting, but it wasn't my money,” she said.
When her children were grown, Ms. Chapin moved to the Bekshires in Massachusetts to open a theater of her own.
“My two sons and daughter came to the mountains to help me build The Stage, which we called a “theatrestaurant.”(one word) We bought old theater seats, patched them up and put the whole thing together from scratch.”
The plays Ms. Chapin produced at The Stage always included some type of dance, said her son, Brian.
“Dance is my mother's driving force,” said Brian Chapin. “It has always been her life.” Ms. Chapin came to Kentucky to be with her grandson, Jude Chapin, Brian said. “She wanted to know my son while she was still young enough that they could enjoy each other. Coming from an Italian household, my mother sees her place in the world through her family.”
Ms. Chapin's other grandchild, Infinity Tuthill, lives with her mother in San Diego.
When Ms. Chapin was living in San Diego to be with her grand daughter, she played senior basketball and produced TV shows on the cable network, Brian said.
“She always finds an outlet for her creativity. She doesn't know any other way-my mother always keeps moving. Her accomplishments have allowed her to lead a high-quality, cultured life.”
Growing up in Manhattan, Ms. Chapin became familiar with dance schools that were taught by women in their 70s,” Brian said. “These were talented women who had spent their whole life in that passion. Dance isn't physically jarring, so women of importance could continue teaching.”
Ms. Chapin isn't afraid to speak her mind or take chances, said Dan Williamson access coordinator with TKR cable.
“She's a one-of-a-kind person you have to respect, and she does great,” said Williamson, who produces “Chapin Chats,” a half-hour cable show.
When Ms. Chapin isn't playing tennis, dancing, producing a play or a TV show, she becomes “Orphinc,” an orphan clown with Clown Town Irregulars. The clown troupe does volunteer work and performs at birthday parties and other events.
Ms. Chapin said that in the beginning, she wasn't sure she would stay with clowning. “But when you see what a benefit it is to the people they entertain. They are doing something with their heart, and they really make people happy. The theater takes all kinds of people And we are what we are.”
The Clown Town Irregulars have learned a lot from Ms. Chapin, said “Orphinic” the happy clown. “And we have much more to learn from her.”
“Eleanor doesn't know it, but I pick her brain. We all do.”
