(18/50) A very young Gelsey Kirkland as an angel, a party child, and a Polichinelle! (top Upstage center. Fred Fehl, 1963. Upstage, last...

(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...

(16/50) Suzanne: "Mr. Balanchine treated all human beings with respect, including children. He never talked down to them, or for that...

(15/50) Shout-out to the Hoops in the second picture for a clean sous-sus! Deni Lamont and SAB students. Photos by Fred Fehl, 1959. Harry...

(14/50) “I can remember very well,” Ms. Tallchief says, “standing downstage on opening night toward the end of the first act, before I...

(12/50) I love these two photos of Arthur Mitchell dancing Balanchine's 1954 choreography for Arabian/Coffee. He just looks so radiant...

(13/50) “Diana Adams as the Sugar Plum Fairy is a vision of beauty, The act opens, in this version, with her variations from the grand...

(9/50) The skirt of the tutu [for Dewdrop] has taken on various lengths over the years, depending on the individual ballerina's physique....

(7/50) The best thing you will see all day today is little baby Suzy Pilarre as a Polichinelle when she was 11 years old. The pictures...

(6/50) Violette Verdy as Dewdrop. Photo by Fred Fehl, 1962. Harry Ransom Center. From left to right down the line: Patricia Neary, Leslie...

(3/50) Jacques d'Amboise & Melissa Hayden in the Nutcracker Pas de Deux. Photo by Fred Fehl, 1962. Harry Ransom Center.

Speaking of the opening night performance in 1948, Anatole Chujoy wrote, "The thrill of the evening came with Balanchine's Symphony in C....

On October 11, 1948, New York City Ballet gave its first official performance at the City Center Theater. The program was all Balanchine....

On the opening night of Orpheus in 1947: “When the slight figure of Stravinsky appeared at the conductor’s sand he was given a tumultuous...

“Ballet began when Terpsichore touched Apollo’s finger, as on the Sistine ceiling God touches Adam’s, and inspired a pas de deux in which...

Balanchine choreographed “Who Cares?” in 1970 to sixteen Gershwin tunes. “The real hero of the piece is a simple, good-natured,...

(2/2) Balanchine on his 1968 revival of Slaughter on Tenth Avenue: "It is not really a revival of the old Slaughter, just that we are...

(1/2) ‘On Your Toes' (1936) was the first musical Balanchine choreographed in the United States. It broke ground in numerous ways—for the...

Bourrée Fantasque was choreographed by Balanchine in 1949 and was described by Nancy Reynolds (affiliate link) as, “melodious, colorful,...

Balanchine choreographed Tarantella in 1964 for Edward Villella and Patricia McBride. “The dancers in Tarantella are also specific...