NYCB Vol. 9 No. 17 - Nutcracker

(17/50) Paul Mejia in his third year as the Nutcracker Prince. I shared these photos with Maria Terezia Balogh and Paul last night at intermission and, as I had hoped, they had never seen them before! What fun it's been to discover and share the Fehl collection with the dancers who are in the photos 🤗

In Francis Mason's book "I Remember Balanchine," Paul wrote: "When I was a child I was in the New York City Ballets' Nutcracker, and little by little I learned who Balanchine was; I did not know what he was until much later. The first year I was in Nutcracker I was Fritz and the Prince as well for a couple performances. And then the next two years I did the Prince. At the time the ballet was rehearsed by Janet Reed; she was wonderful. She made everything so clear and so much fun at the same time. And Mr. Balanchine would come. He was there at the last rehearsals, and we all obviously knew that he was the boss. I always listened. I was an attentive, serious person, though I was having fun."

Paul Mejia. Photos by Fred Fehl, 1961. Harry Ransom Center