After performing all over the world, this 99-year-old still teaches ballet
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At 99, Sierra Madre’s Helga Monson de Kansky still teaches ballet in Pasadena, her enduring passion outlasting a postwar career on some of Europe’s grandest stages.
Raised in Depression-era Kansas, trained in New York and celebrated abroad, she ultimately traded life as a touring ballerina for motherhood and a quieter artistic legacy.
From a house filled with her late husband’s art to a studio packed with students-turned-friends, Monson de Kansky’s community keeps her dancing, at least “as long as I can walk.”
Raised in Depression-era Kansas, trained in New York and celebrated abroad, she ultimately traded life as a touring ballerina for motherhood and a quieter artistic legacy.
From a house filled with her late husband’s art to a studio packed with students-turned-friends, Monson de Kansky’s community keeps her dancing, at least “as long as I can walk.”
