Noretta Dunworth
By SUE SUCHYTA
Times-Herald Newspapers
DEARBORN – Noretta Dunworth, 94, a beloved dance teacher for generations of students, died peacefully Feb. 5 in her sleep.
Dunworth, the founder of the Noretta Dunworth School of Dance, which she ran with her daughter, Loni Lane, and her granddaughter, Casey Quinn, continued to teach at the studio, working with her Cecchetti ballet students as recently as last week.
Lane said that she, her mother and daughter were “truly three peas in a pod.”
“She told everyone, ‘Loni and Casey won’t let me die – they think I am going to live forever,’” Lane said. “I know our lives will never be the same without her.”
Lane said her mother touched countless lives in many ways and will never be forgotten.
“Her legacy will live on in all of the thousands of students, friends, colleagues and people that she’s met throughout her 94 years,” she said. “Her elegance, generosity, kindness, talent, knowledge and professionalism will be remembered throughout their lives.”
Lane said her mother had a beautiful smile, and was a legend, a trailblazer and a modern woman before her time.
“She was humble and truly admired all of her fellow colleagues,” she said. “She was happy with whatever she had in life, and was never jealous or envied anyone else.”
Lane said Dunworth loved her life and lived each day to the fullest.
“I always wanted her to make it to 100 and be on TV, still dancing and still in great shape to show the world how incredible she was,” she said. “To me, she was everything.”
Dunworth taught dance for 82 years, beginning at age 12 in the basement of her parents’ Dearborn home.
While she taught thousands of area youths to dance, she also taught them poise, self-confidence and how to pursue short-term goals and long-term dreams.
Some have gone on to professional careers as performers. Others have become professionals in areas like law, medicine, business and science. And many have said that much of what they learned about life was at the studio.
Dunworth was born April 23, 1928, and was singing on the radio to help support her family during the Great Depression.
In a 2010 interview, Dunworth said her grandfather was impressed enough with her singing ability when she was 2 ½ years old to take for an audition for a Sunday radio show on WJBK-AM.
“They auditioned me right away, and took me almost every Sunday of my life until I was about 12 or 15 years old,” Dunworth said, “so I never had a social life. I would practice all week.”
Her mother would buy sheet music, sit her down and teach her songs at the piano, and Dunworth would earn about a dollar for each Sunday she sang on the radio. That money would go to buy food for her family or pay for the private Saturday dance lessons her mother decided to sign her up for at the Fox Theatre.
“She figured if I was on the radio, I might as well learn to dance, too,” Dunworth said.
Her first dance lessons were ballet lessons from instructor Emma Hartell of England, who Dunworth said was the only person around at the time who taught it. She also took tap lessons from Homer Babb, for whom she had high praise. Babb’s wife would play the piano while students tapped.
Dunworth’s mother paid $1 or $1.50 for her private lessons and was determined to get her money’s worth, Dunworth said.
“All the way home my mother would have me remember the step sitting down (in the street car), because if I forgot the step, that was a dollar and a half shot,” Dunworth said.
She almost didn’t become a dancer or a teacher – she wanted to quit when she was 12.
“I told my mother I’ve had it,” Dunworth said. “I was tired. I wanted to be a regular person. I wanted to be normal. I didn’t even know what free time was.”
So, she quit dancing at age 12. But then her family’s insurance man talked her into teaching his two children for 50 cents a lesson – and unwittingly launched her career.
Shortly afterward, Dunworth was teaching up to 150 students in the basement of her parents’ small house near Fordson High School. Her father made her a barre, and she had a wooden surface on the floor.
But when some of the boys started to bump their heads on the ceiling, Dunworth knew it was time to find a bigger place.
Dunworth graduated from Fordson High School in 1946, and in 1952, at age 24, she opened her studio at 2323 Monroe in Dearborn.
“My dad took me out here to look at the building, and I said, ‘I’m not moving way out in the country,’ because east Dearborn was the city then,” she said.
They bought the building anyway – before she even bought a house – but Dunworth worried that her family would lose the building if her students didn’t follow her to the new location. Though it was considered far away at the time, she said, and many couldn’t afford the cost of gasoline, they did follow her.
“And from then on, that is what it was,” Dunworth said. “It happened.”
In December 2011, Noretta Dunworth cut the ribbon on the current, even larger studio, at 3311 Telegraph Road in Dearborn. There, three generations taught dance – Dunworth, Lane and Quinn.
Dunworth was proud that her instruction helped many young people get started, whether in dance or another career. That may have something to do with her approach to dance instruction.
“I want the kids to work,” Dunworth said. “You can’t get anything handed on a silver platter. You have to work for anything. You have to work for it hard.
“You can’t just wish it’s going to be there – it isn’t.”
Most of all, however, Dunworth said she appreciates when her students grow up to become good people.
“I don’t care whether they’re a dancer,” she said. “I’m proud that they did something with their life. The ones that are professionals I’m very proud of. That’s what you worked for: to make them a dancer, or a teacher. I don’t care. As long as they have dance in their heart, that’s all that matters.”
The secret to her life was simple: “Enjoy life, and enjoy your family,” Dunworth said. “And enjoy your work. If you don’t, then your life is not very good. It’s not work when you love it.”
Dunworth’s dancers have gone on to professional careers on Broadway, in professional ballet companies, as Radio City Rockettes and on television and in the movies.
She was a member of The Dance Masters of Michigan/America, Dance Educators of America, and the Cecchetti Council of America for more than 50 years, and received the Legacy Award and Most Honored Studio at the 2017 National Dance Honors Competition.
Dunworth was awarded the Dearborn Arts Council’s Mayor’s Award twice, under Mayor Michael Guido and Mayor John O’Reilly Jr.
Past student Mary Beth Oravec of Dearborn said Dunworth introduced her to dance as a child, which helped her develop a lifelong appreciation for the arts.
“Her legacy will continue, and she will always be remembered by me as Dearborn’s queen of dance,” she said.
Past student Isabella Petnehazy said she was fortunate to have studied with Dunworth.
“No one can deny Noretta’s incredible talent, artistry and perseverance,” she said. “She touched the lives of so many.”
Former student Nick Gottron said he will cherish his memories of Dunworth.
“Noretta has taught me so many lessons about life and dance while also making memories that I will cherish forever,” he said.
Past student Miranda Martinez said she cherished her years at the studio with Dunworth.
“This incredible woman helped shape me and so many others to the people we are today,” she said. “I have carried those lessons with me all through my life.”
Former student Gretchen Esch-Kyte said Dunworth’s lessons in dance and life shaped her into the person she is today.
“She was a great inspiration, dancing and teaching all the way to the end,” she said. “The impact she has had on so many people in her 82 years of teaching is incredible.”
Dunworth was the daughter of Wesley and Erma Dunworth and is predeceased by her brother Jack Dunworth and daughter Lisa Mrkva. She leaves her daughter Loni Lane Padesky (Joseph); her son Kip Mrkva (Peggy); her grandchildren Cory Clark Padesky (Elizabeth), Casey Quinn Padesky, Kyle Mrkva (Gypsa) and Kellen Mrkva ( Lauren); and great-grandchildren Emilia Quinn Padesky, Henry John Padesky, Adelina Marin Mrkva, Sylvie Margaret Mrkva and Leonard Jai Mrkva.
Visitation will be 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Feb. 11 and 10 a.m. to noon Feb. 12 at the Dearborn Chapel of the Howe-Peterson Funeral Home, 22546 Michigan Ave. in Dearborn. Eulogy is at 6 p.m. Feb. 11, with interment at Acacia Park Cemetery.
Memorials may be made to Noretta by sending flowers.