NYPL Vol. 19 No. 12 - Four Temperaments, Todd Bolender
Updated: 6 days ago
Jacques d'Amboise: "To this day, I consider Todd Bolender among the greatest dance artists I've ever seen on the stage, not just for The Four Temperaments, but in every role I saw him perform. His genius was in giving full value to every gesture of the dance, as if it were the only movement he would ever make, the beginning and end of the universe. Each movement, Todd imbued with drama and theater, as if the music and gestures contained dialogue, silent words holding secrets of Shakespeare and Chekhov.
"It never occurred to me in those Ballet Society days that someday I would be up there doing that entrance with those great dancers and sharing the stage with Todd. I never danced Todd's role, Phlegmatic. I would have refused, even if Balanchine had asked me. Todd was the zenith."
--I Was a Dancer by Jacques d'Amboise
Todd Bolender in his original costume. Photos by Carl Van Vechten, 1947. NYPL
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