Polly Nulty Papers

Pauline R. Nulty was owner/operator of the Polly Nulty Dance Studio in Burlington, VT for thirty years. She was born in Burlington on January 11, 1923, the daughter of Philip H. Beaulieu (born in 1894 in Burlington) and Mary E. Lister (born in Winooski in 1895). She married Walter J. Nulty, a veteran of the Army’s First Special Service Force, in October of 1945 in Burlington. In 1949, after the birth of their second child, Polly began her dance career. As a way to fill her time while her husband was away at school she brought the neighborhood children to her basement and with her son in a crib and her daughter toddling around she began to teach them her love of dance. Upon returning from school, her husband recognized his wife’s enjoyment and proposed the idea of expanding beyond their home. With her husband’s support she officially started the Polly Nulty Dance Studio at the Heineberg Club in Burlington’s New North End. Her business grew as she brought dance to outlying areas such as Stowe and Morrisville. Her Burlington studio moved numerous times over the years until finally coming full circle to a newly designed studio in the basement of her home on Pearl Street in Burlington. While building her business she continued her own education in dance by taking classes at the University of Vermont from Madam Swift and attending conventions in Boston and New York. She was a member of the Professional Dance Teacher’s Association. Her students performed shows throughout the years for various organizations like the Veteran’s Hospital in White River Junction, VT. They were in big demand with one of her most requested acts being the Polyettes, a precision dance line fashioned after the famous Rockettes. In 1974 she teamed up with Howard Delano to bring musical theater to Burlington. As co-founders of Lyric Theatre their first production was How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. Polly held many positions on the board of directors but her love was still dance and her enjoyment was choreographer for many Lyric productions. She retired from her business in 1977 and Lyric when she began wintering in Florida with her husband. But her career didn’t end; it only began a new chapter. She started conducting dance classes in her retirement community and began dancing in exhibitions for the Fred Astaire Studios. Although she had taught ballroom dancing in Burlington this was the first time she was able to perform in front of an audience and she enjoyed it. Polly Nulty, wife, mother, choreographer, and successful business owner died on July 23, 1992 at her summer home in Grand Isle, VT.

[Biography supplied by donor.]