Travel by Water and Road
Watercolor drawing by Edward Williams Clay for later engraving by H.R. Robinson, New York, 1838
The New York Public Library for the Performing Arts, Jerome Robbins Dance Division
Augusta Maywood, considered America's first native-born ballerina, was the step-daughter of Robert Maywood, actor-manager for a theater in Philadelphia. The Maywoods presented European ballets on the Smith-Ludlow circuit in theaters along the Mississippi in the 1830s. Maywood, just twelve when she appeared as Zoloe, "caused a sensation among the veteran playgoers," who were "astonished at her excellence," according to an article which appeared in the Philadelphia Public Ledger in January 1838. She later studied and spent most of her life performing in Europe.
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