At 16 years old, Tucsonan Nina Trasoff was one of 14 young ballerinas selected to perform on the South Lawn stage at the White House for President John F. Kennedy.

 Interlochen Arts Camp

Aug. 6, 1962. I was one of 14 young dancers selected to perform on the South Lawn stage at the White House for President John F. Kennedy.

I was a 16-year-old girl studying at Balanchine’s School of American Ballet in New York City, dreaming of becoming a professional dancer. My parents and I decided the perfect place to spend the summer would be at National Music Camp/Interlochen, a renowned fine arts camp nestled among the stately pines of northern Michigan.

Courtesy of Nina Trasoff

Camp auditions placed me in the more advanced of the two ballet groups for the summer, which I then learned meant that I would travel to the nation’s capital along with National Music Camp’s Youth Symphony Orchestra to perform in one of a series of “For Youth By Youth” concerts sponsored by First Lady Jacquelyn Kennedy.

In the ensuing weeks we worked hard to master the choreography Program Director Sheila Reilly set on us to Strauss’s Emperor Waltz. Joe Kaminski, director of the intermediate ballet group and a costuming genius, created custom-fit soft-pink flowing tutus for each of us … complete with hand-sewn beading. And tiaras. And long white gloves.

Nina Trasoff in costume for ballet at the White House in 1962.

On Aug. 5, 1962, we took a chartered plane to Detroit for a performance in Dearborn, Michigan, at Fairlane Gardens, which had once been Henry and Clara Ford’s home. We then flew to Washington, D.C., where we spent the night in Army barracks at nearby Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

The true magic began early the next morning, when buses picked us up to take us to DC — my first visit there. Oohs and aahs resounded as we drove past familiar monuments, but nothing could prepare us for the front gates of the White House swinging open as we approached. Our buses dropped us in front of the portico next to a newly constructed stage on the South Lawn. Orchestra members took their places for a run-through of the concert; dancers tested the stage in our camp uniform knickers, but with toe shoes so we could get a feel for the floor and the spacing ... almost too focused on our upcoming performance to notice the magnificence of the setting in front of the White House. Then we were taken to our dressing room downstairs in the White House, where we dressed for the performance ... 14 excited young ballerinas in flowing pink dresses and toe shoes.

Before the concert began, we stood by the stage as President Kennedy addressed the audience and the young musicians, talking about the skill and work it takes to play in an orchestra like this. He shared that he also had studied music, playing the piano ... badly. Although he had to return to the Oval Office, he said he’d keep the windows open so he could listen. (Of course, we dancers were disappointed he wouldn’t be watching our performance!)

As he left the stage, the president stopped to shake each dancer’s hand and talk with us.

Nina Trasoff and other ballet dancers meet President John F. Kennedy at the White House in 1962.

And then we danced. The audience was mostly children with special needs from the Washington area along with children of White House staffers. To this day, it was one of the most meaningful audiences for which I’ve had the honor to perform.

After the performance, musicians and dancers (once again in our knickers) were escorted to the Rose Garden, where President Kennedy talked with us. Then it was on to the State Dining Room for a spaghetti lunch, which most of us devoured sitting on the floor of the East Room, though some of us (including me) opted to eat in the Red Room, a far more elegant setting. We basically had free rein of the area.

That evening, we flew back to Interlochen and slept in our own beds in our log cabins in the woods, just regular NMC campers once again. But oh, how each of us was changed — forever — by this experience.

I’ve visited the White House as an adult several times since, but no visit has been as special as the time I danced on the South Lawn, lunched in the East Wing, and met President Kennedy. I’ve met three other presidents since, but this whirlwind experience 60 years ago is the one that will always stand out in my memory.

How very lucky I was.

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Tucsonan Nina Trasoff is a former Broadway dancer, television news anchor woman and Tucson City Council member.