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the same very slender shape with dark hair. He worked with them until they were perfect. At times they were so exhausted they had to be carried home by their parents, their feet too blistered to walk. These were the first of thousands of Tiller Girls. The four girls presented a burlesque routine and a “Coconut dance” popular at the time. The pantomime lasted for three months with every show generating glowing reports in the newspapers and receiving awards for the girls and their manager. But the fee received for this only barely covered expenses and costs. This first experience helped John make up his mind to become a professional manager.
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She was a hard taskmaster, but a good business woman who had John Tiller's full support in everything she did. The girls always called her Miss Read. In the 1920s, John Tiller was regularly crossing the world to finalise contracts. He always made sure his trip ended up in New York so he could meet Mary.
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By the late 19th century John's troupes were dancing in ballet and pantomime performances all over the world. At this time John conceived the Mystic
Hussars routine, where the girls dressed as cavaliers when performing their dance routine. As the girls were kicking; he had them link their arms around
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In 1890 John was asked to present a quartet of children for the pantomime "Robinson Crusoe" at the Prince of Wales
Theatre, Liverpool. He chose four of his best Manchester pupils, all aged about 10 years: Dolly Grey, Tessie Lomax, and twins Cissy and Lilly Smith. They were all the same height and had
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One of John's uncles, John George Tiller, was the wealthy owner of a successful cotton agency (one of the largest in
Manchester). John wanted the same lifestyle. John's uncle took him into the family business and treated him like a son. During the day John worked in the cotton trade and after work he
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At 19 one of his girlfriends, Mary
Elizabeth Carr, told him she was pregnant. On Christmas Eve 1873, they married at St John's Parish Church in Manchester. They had 10 children in 11 years. By this time John was a full partner in the cotton business and was living in a large house like his uncle.
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In New York City, John Tiller opened a dance school at 226 West 72nd Street, with offices and a training studio. It was run by Mary Read, a Head Tiller Girl from
England who had been one of the 1916 Sunshine Girls in America, She trained American pupils as well as the girls from the United Kingdom.
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He pursued his theatrical ambitions and became stage manager of an amateur theatrical group made up of local business people who would perform a
Minstrels act in Manchester theatres. In 1885 John became director of the Comedy Theatre Manchester. During the same year, he began teaching children to
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At this time everything went wrong for him in his uncle's business. His uncle's son who was now old enough to work was brought into the family business. His uncle became an alcoholic. John had a violent quarrel with his uncle; John stormed out and set up his own business, never speaking with his
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After John's death in 1925, Mary Read signed a very profitable contract with RKO studios. Many Tiller Girls worked in
American films and danced all over the USA. Many girls married and settled in America, most of them dancing and choreographing in American shows. Mary closed the American Tiller
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each other's waists. The proximity helped the girls work well together and at last he was able to achieve absolute precision in dance. His dream had come true. There is speculation among his descendants as to whether he adopted the kicking and headdress after watching the
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John Tiller always had a keen interest in music. At ten years old he became a choirboy, and a choirmaster at fourteen. He took music lessons with a tutor named Dr Hiles, who later became
Professor of Harmony and composition at the Royal Northern College of Music.
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booked them to perform their original Pony Trot. Later, at the height of their popularity in New York there were three Tiller lines working on
Broadway: The Lollipops and The Sunshine Girls at the Globe Theatre, and 24 Tiller Girls in the
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His first dance performances were at small local church dances, and due to his position as director of the Comedy
Theatre Manchester, he was able to arrange for his small dancers a place in the theatre's
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John Tiller died in 1925. By then, the (Casino de Paris – Paris en Fleurs program) was called the "Lawrence Tiller Girls." John's wife kept the school running until her death in the mid 1930s.
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dance. His early pupils practised for hours every Saturday afternoon amongst the bales of cotton in one of the firm's warehouses. He also taught at his home, to the disapproval of his wife.
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John Tiller carried on presenting dancers in an amateur capacity. By this time, his real interest was with the theatre and dance, and he was getting bored with the cotton industry.
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John’s wife Mary died of cancer in 1905 and he remarried to Jennie Walker in 1906. Jennie was very involved in the running of the Tiller Schools until her death in February 1936.
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The Tiller schools remained open and run by Doris Alloway, Barbara Aitken and R.J. Smith. In 1973 the Tiller school was taken over by the impresario
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School in 1935 and married Donald Leman Clark, PhD, a professor of rhetoric at Columbia University in New York. (source: Boltz family archives)
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The John Tiller School of Dance including Ballet and Tap training & Modern and Ballroom is continued by Bernard Tiller.
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had visited The Palace Theatre in London and booked the girls to appear in “Good Morning Dearie” at
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devoted himself to music and acting. He soon progressed to management in the cotton industry.
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Pages of information on John Tiller, The Tiller Girl Dancers and the Tiller School of Dancing
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Revues and burlesques by John Tiller on Great War Theatre
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John first sent a troupe of girls to America in 1900.
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John went on to perfect a high-kicking dance for the
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16:For the Anglican priest and author, see
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285:Bernard Tiller's Tiller Girls Web Site
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187:on one of his many trips abroad.
293:Latest news for The Tiller Girls
174:on the special funeral train.
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332:Burials at Brookwood Cemetery
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48:John Thomas Ibbotson Tiller
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267:by Doremy Vernon, 1998,
89:Musical theater director
80:New York, New York, U.S.
223:George White's Scandals
198:The American Connection
317:English choreographers
64:, Lancashire, England
185:Lipizzaner stallions
18:John Tiller (priest)
227:The Nifties of 1923
168:Lenox Hill Hospital
147:Christmas pantomime
215:Charles Dillingham
172:Brookwood Cemetery
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94:Years active
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291:The Tiller Girls
209:Ziegfeld Follies
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75:(1925-10-22)
58:13 June 1854
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327:1854 births
322:1925 deaths
247:Robert Luff
29:John Tiller
306:Categories
259:References
178:High Kicks
86:Occupation
54:1854-06-13
124:Biography
97:1885-1925
62:Blackburn
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269:ISBN
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