One of Oklahoma’s five world recognized ballerinas has died.  Edna Moscelyne Larkin Jasinski, born in Miami, Oklahoma on January 14, 1925, to a Russian-born mother, Eva Matlagova, and a Shawnee Peoria/Welch father, Ruben (Babe) Larkin died in Tulsa, Oklahoma on Wednesday, April 25, 2012. 

Miss Larkin began dancing as a child in her mother’s dance studio and at powwows with her father.  She was extremely proud of her Native American heritage.  She made a special effort to encourage and promote the education and advancement of Native American children.

After leaving her home at the age of 13 to study ballet in New York City, she traveled the world expanding her knowledge and skill of ballet and performing.  It was during this stage of her life that she met and married Roman Jasinski.  They were married for forty years, until he predeceased her in 1991.  They had one son, Roman Larkin Jasinski, who survives.

In the mid-1956, the Larkin and Jasinski co-founded the Tulsa Ballet and continued to watch it grow into an internationally recognized school and performance company. 

In 1978 Miss Larkin was inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame.  She was later given the Governor’s Arts Award, and named “Outstanding Indian” by the Council of American Indians, an honor she treasured.  Together, she and her husband were given the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Tulsa Arts and Humanities Council; inducted into the Tulsa Hall of Fame, and received honorary degrees from the University of Tulsa. In 1996, “Oklahoma Today” magazine named her “Outstanding Oklahoman of the Year”.  Miss Larkin and her fellow Oklahoma Indian Ballerinas, Maria Tallchief, Marjorie Tallchief, Rosella Hightower and Yvonne Chouteau, were given the rare designation “Oklahoma Treasures” in 1997.

What is NASNTI Summer Syposium?

A free fun filled five day experience for selected May 2012 high school graduates that will be enrolling at Redlands Community College in the fall semester as a Business Major.  The All Nations Business Institute Summer Symposium runs from June 25th-June 29th.  Visit their website at www.redlandscc.edu/ANBI