Mark Turbyfill

Mark Turbyfill (1896-1990), was an American poet, dancer, and painter.

Life
Born in Oklahoma City, Turbyfill came to Chicago with his parents in 1911. He began publishing poems while still a teenager.

His professional dance career began in 1919 when joined the Pavley-Oukrainsky corps de ballet with the Chicago Grand Opera Company. He continued to dance through the 1920s and 1930s, later becoming principal dancer under Adolph Bolm with the Chicago Allied Arts and partnering Chicago dancer and choreographer Ruth Page.

Turbyfill gained renown as a poet in the 1920's, publishing in The Little Review, Poetry'', and other magazines. The May 1926 issue of Poetry was devoted entirely to his long poem, "A Marriage With Space," which was later reprinted with other poems in 1974. A collection of his verse, The Words Beneath Us, appeared in 1951.''