Michael Bennett was born Michael DiFiglia on April 8, 1943, in Buffalo, New York, and began dancing professionally as a teenager. He...

Maria Tallchief: “In Allegro Brillante George extended aspects of classical technique beyond anything I had done before. Rather than...

Back in August, I discovered several photos of a very young Suzy Pilarre in the corps of Serenade: Photos by Fred Fehl, 1964 Harry Ransom...

(27/50) Patricia McBride and Edward Villella in the Nutcracker Pas de Deux. This was filmed in the August of 1969 at Jacob's Pillow. Stay...

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

[47/50] “Suki Schorer was a Dew Drop that had the lightness of a refracted sunbeam, and made the “Waltz of the Flowers” an enchanted...

[42/50] Suzanne Farrell as Dew Drop. Photo by Martha Swope, 1966.

[23/50] Jumping into week 4 of Nutcracker like... Patricia Neary as Dewdrop. Martha Swope, 1966. New York Public Library

[22/50] “Kay Mazzo uses space in a surprisingly large and generous way for such a delicate girl” — The Village Voice, 1969 Kay Mazzo in...

[12/50] In 1985, Jean-Pierre Frohlich recalled his early years in The Nutcracker to author Ellen Switzer: "When I danced the Nutcracker...

(10/12) From everything I’ve read over the years, it seems clear that Balanchine never passed up an opportunity to dance. He would often...

(8/12) The Oberon variation has been described by dancers as one of the fastest and most difficult male variations that Balanchine...

(9/12) Patty originated the role of Hermia, however, the first photo shows her as Titania a few years later. I love the photos of...

(6/12) Oberon, King of the Fairies Eddie Villella, who originated the role spoke of the experience in his autobiography: “It was simply a...

(5/12) Titania, Queen of the Fairies (top, left) Suzanne as Titania and Nolan T’Sani as her Cavalier, 1975. (top, center) Suzanne as...

(3/12) In 1966, Balanchine’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream was filmed on a soundstage to preserve most elements of the original production....

(8/10) Between Martha’s wonderful captures, Balanchine’s choreography, and the the beauty of the dancers—whittling thousands of photos...

(2/10) When Balanchine mounted his own one-act production of Swan Lake in 1951, New York Times critic John Martin was “bewildered” by the...

(1/10) Today begins NYCB’s run of 12 Swan Lake performances. Balanchine’s version (rather than Martins’) is being mounted for the first...

Originally set on his company in 1958, Merce Cunningham staged Summerspace for NYCB in 1966. (left) Carolyn Brown and Viola Farber in...