“Her ballet, Barn Dance, was the first truly American balletic composition that we have ever seen.”
Catherine dismisses agent Arnold Meckel because she anticipates many prestigious engagements in light of her company’s European triumphs. Although these engagements fail to materialize, she secures some bookings on her own and premieres new ballets such as Classical Suite, a neoclassical piece set to music by Bach. She hires agent Michael Myerberg, who secures a contract with the Chicago City Opera for the 1938 fall season. She wins over Chicagoans who were initially upset at her displacement of Chicago dancer/choreographer Ruth Page. In Chicago, Catherine changes the name of her company back to the Littlefield Ballet and premieres her ballet Americana pieces Café Society and Ladies’ Better Dresses. Karen Conrad leaves the Littlefields to join Mikhail Mordkin’s troupe, which becomes Ballet Theatre. Miriam Golden and others also join Ballet Theatre. Catherine is passed over for the Philadelphia Award.