Born in Boston, Nancie Monteux received her early education in boarding schools and under private tutors in Belgium and France, where she lived and traveled with her parents Pierre and Doris Monteux. She began studying dance at the age of eight, concentrating on the Dalcroze method, and later worked with pupils of Isadora Duncan, Mary Wigman, and Ballet Classique. In 1934, she made her recital debut with the Orchestre Symphonique de Paris, conducted by her father. Recitals followed in Paris and in California, where she was a member of the Théâtre Français de San Francisco.