In Petipa's 1890 production of Sleeping Beauty, the Precious Stones Pas de Quatre included the Gold Fairy, Sapphire Fairy, Silver Fairy,...

At the 1890 world premiere of Sleeping Beauty, the dance of Puss-in-Boots and the White Cat was encored. (Petipa Society) Today, it still...

"Petipa choreographed the Bluebird Pas de deux as a pas d’action, in which the Bluebird is teaching Princess Florine how to fly, so she...

If you aren't familiar with the fairy tale The Bluebird: "The characters Princess Florine and the Bluebird come from the famous French...

In 1988 (3 years prior to NYCB's full production), Merrill Ashley and Lindsay Fischer appeared in the grand pas de deux from Sleeping...

"In the original 1890 Mariinsky production, she was portrayed by the great Italian dancer Enrico Cecchetti. But Peter Martins, who...

"Ms. Nichols spotted intriguing similarities between the Lilac Fairy and Glinda, the Good Witch in The Wizard of Oz. 'There's some...

"Ms. Kistler found everything she needed to know about Aurora's sweet persona in Tschaikovsky's radiant score. 'You hear every feeling,...

Although Balanchine never mounted a production of Sleeping Beauty himself, the ballet holds a significant place in the history of NYCB....

This morning we have a student matinée. NYCB’s tradition of inviting NYC school children to the ballet began with Mr. B: “Balanchine, who...

Jerome Robbins: "One should feel immediately that the three are good friends, used to bumming around together, used to each other’s...

Violette Verdy's thoughts on Firebird: “What I love about Firebird is the quality of entombed independence of that bird who has a...

Martha Graham recalled watching Balanchine choreograph his section of Episodes, which they jointly created in 1959: “It was like watching...

“It is gentle in tone and fascinating in its nuances. What seems like a simple canon becomes movement repeated in a different direction...

An excerpt from the outline that Jerome Robbins wrote for Fancy Free circa 1943: “Three sailors explode onto the stage. They are out on...

"To get right to the point without any ifs, ands, or buts, Jerome Robbins’ ‘Fancy Free,’ which the American Ballet Theatre premiered last...

(left & right) Suki Schorer in Donizetti Variations. Photo by Martha Swope, 1968. (center Suki Schorer and Balanchine in rehearsal for...

Merrill Ashley in Valse Fantaisie Photo by Martha Swope, 1977

“The leading dancer of the work follows the piano in the cadenza, but her cavalier also has his important part, as do the supporting...

Suzanne Farrell and Joseph Duell in Walpurgisnacht Photo by Costas from Balanchine: Celebrating a Life in Dance (affiliate link)