Paul Godkins training as a dancer began at the age of seven in his hometown of Beaumont Texas He toured Europe and the United States with the Ballet Russe as a soloist in Ballet Theater and as a concert performer During World War Two he served with the US Navy for three and onehalf years His first professional choreographic effort in 1948 served also to introduce him to Michael Todd in Willie the Weeper ballet arranged for ANTAs Ballet Ballads which had been commissioned by Mr Todd In 1951 he arranged the dances for in international revue in Paris which starred Colette Marchand and Maurice Chevalier