“A child prodigy as a dancer — she liked to joke that if one reversed the syllables in her surname, ‘Chou-teau’ became ‘Toe-shoe’ — Ms. Chouteau started dancing when she was 2 1/2 years old. She received early training in Oklahoma and then in New York City, where she attended the School of American Ballet. She was accepted into the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at 14.”