NYCB Vol. 11 No. 3 - Bourrée Fantasque

Lauryn Johnson
Apr 25, 2024
2 min read

Updated: Apr 27, 2024

In Balanchine's Bourrée Fantasque, Maria Tallchief was the second movement ballerina. She wrote,

"Increasingly, the roles George created for me were becoming more and more difficult. They called for pyrotechnical virtuosity and limitless stamina. But my material for Bourrée Fantasque was romantic and poetic.

"A haunting, dreamy quality suffused the action. The choreography depicted man's eternal search for love and fulfillment. Nicky [Magallanes] and I entered from opposite sides and moved in a trance through a maze made by the corps de ballet until we found each other. Then we danced in slow, sustained movements and solemn pirouettes that expressed tender longing.

(left) Maria Tallchief center

(right) (L-R Harold Laing & Tanny; Maria Tallchief & Nicholas Magallanes; Herbert Bliss & Janet Reed

Photos by Roger Wood, 1952. New York Public Library

"Opening night, the central section of the ballet went very well. Waiting in the wings for the finale in which we had several lifts, Nicky asked if I wanted to practice them one more time. There was only about a foot of wing space at the City Center-just enough room to stand and breathe and be nervous in; trying out steps there required the talents of a contortionist. But I was willing. We were positioned inside the first wing downstage left, alongside the board where the stage manager stood. Nicky put his arms around my waist and hoisted me up. But one of the black jet beads that studded his costume had broken, leaving a jagged edge. When he lowered me, I scraped the inside of my arm against the protruding end of the bead and cut my arm. It was surprisingly painful, and the cut began to spurt blood.

"Only a few seconds remained before we had to go on. The stage manager quickly wiped away the blood with a tissue and someone else produced a Band-Aid. I was still securing it in place as we entered for the finale. When the curtain came down my costume was bloodstained. The cut wasn't serious, and no one had noticed what had happened, but I have the scar from it today. Most of the critics treated Bourrée Fantasque as stylish entertainment not exactly a work of art—but audiences loved it. I did too. It showed off another side of me that George obviously knew so well. One critic wrote that Nicky and I performed 'with the languid tenderness of a romantic sigh,' and that's what it felt like dancing it."

—Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina