NYCB Vol. 14 No. 12 - Sylvia Pas de Deux

Celebrating 100 Years of Maria Tallchief! In this 1959 footage originally posted by Kurt Froman, we see André Eglevsky and Maria Tallchief perform the coda from the Sylvia Pas de Deux on PBS.

“The art of ballet was not a part of the world of commercial entertainment, and the audience, for it was comparatively small. So when CBS, one of the countries biggest networks, approach George about the possibility of having me dance a pod on one of its variety shows, he agreed. television was the bright new medium of the day. By 1951 most middle-class household had a set, and ballet on TV seems like an inevitability. George suggested that André and I performed Sylvia.

“In those days shows were broadcast live from studios with slippery and hard cement floors. To minimize the chance of an accident, André and I decided to attach rubber strips on our shoes. At first, we worried that they would interfere with our movements, but we had no choice. It was either that or increase the odds that during the telecast we’d fall in front of who knew how many millions of viewers. So we glued the rubber to the soles of our shoes, and rehearsed with them on. It seemed to work, and when the show began, we performed that way. It was a strange experience, dancing on a wide open space to tape recorded music and with no applause and no one, but a few technicians watching. But for all our worrying, the performance went smoothly."

--Quoted from "Maria Tallchief: America's Prima Ballerina