The following text comes from Edward Villella's autobiography, Prodigal Son: Dancing for Balanchine in a World of Pain and Magic. The major breakthrough in my career came in 1960. I was cast in Prodigal Son, and in typical New York City Ballet fashion no one ever talked to me about it officially. I wasn't even aware that Prodigal was being revived. I was standing around waiting for a rehearsal to finish when Diana Adams turned to me and said, "Oh, congratulations." I said, "A

Gloria Govrin and Frank Ohman. Photo by Martha Swope, 1965. From -- Balanchine's Dancing Cowboy  by Frank Ohman "[Balanchine] fostered...

Jacques d'Amboise with Suzanne Farrell, Gloria Govrin and Patricia Neary in Balanchine's Apollo, 1965. “It was becoming a more and more...

(2/12) Here are additional photos from the original 1962 production. When Balanchine was a child, he was an elf in a production of...

(1/12) Twelve performances of A Midsummer Night’s Dream begins today! These first two posts feature photos from the original production...

(3/6) Balanchine on the idea that his ballets are abstract: “No piece of music, no dance can in itself be abstract. You hear a physical...

In 1964, when NYCB moved to the New York State Theater, Balanchine re-choreographed the Arabian/Coffee Divertissement for Gloria Govrin...