Dancers: Hoffman Girl: Florence

Max Pollak

An image of the American dancer Florence Kolinsky, a.k.a. "Miss Florence" (ca. 1906 – 1996) in Moulin Rouge, performed with the Gertrude Hoffman Girls dance group in Paris, 1924.

Florence began dancing as a young child, trained at the Keith Theater in Philadelphia after seeing Anna Pavlova perform and wanting to become a dancer, herself. She was soon hired as by the Rosebuds Troupe in Atlantic City and as part of a pre-show acrobatic act in various movie theaters. In 1919 another Keith Theater instructor, William J. Herman, recommended the then-13-year-old Florence to the founder of the Hoffman Girls dance troupe, Gertrude Hoffman. Though hesitant because of Florence's age, her talent outweighed Gertrude's concerns over hiring a child. Telling people she was sixteen years old, Florence joined the troupe and began touring the East Coast, followed soon by Europe.

Florence proved to be a popular performer, and was given a variety of featured acts with the Hoffman Girls and the Ziegfield Folie throughout the 1920s. From 1927 to 1937, she paired with dancer Julio Alvarez to perform at various clubs in New York and Paris. After marrying Harry Maslow in 1937, she retired from performing. She died in Atlanta, Georgia, in 1996.