Wilhelmina Frankfurt & David Richardson. Photo by Martha Swope, 1976. NYPL In 1976 at the Maurice Ravel Festival, Balanchine premiered the ballet, “Le Tombeau de Couperin.”  Anna Kisselgoff declared, this ballet was, “was the masterpiece of the [Ravel] Festival, a ballet that deserves to endure with the best of the Balanchine repertory and one whose creative and intellectual underpinnings are first-rate. “In ‘Le Tombeau de Couperin,’ Mr. Balanchine has used the 18th-century c

“La Valse may have been the quintessential role of LeClercq, not only for its angular sophistication and doomed half-innocence, which she...

Patricia McBride and Nicholas Magallanes in La Valse. Photo by Fred Fehl, 1963. In 1919, Diaghilev requested that Maurice Ravel compose...

Balanchine’s Sonatine premiered on the gala night of the Ravel Festival celebrating the 100th anniversary of the French composer’s birth....

Suzanne: “When I first got back [to NYCB after 5 years in Europe] I did a ballet for Jerry Robbins, and another one for Jacques, both...

Tzigane was the first ballet that Balanchine choreographed for Suzanne after she returned to NYCB. She wrote about the choreographic...

After Suzanne's 6-year absence from NYCB, the first work Balanchine choreographed on her was Tzigane. The ballet was made in just 6 days...

Last La Valse of the season. The camera sure loves Tanny. I’m mesmerized by these photos. Which is your favorite? (above) Tanaquil...

The original principal couple in Balanchine’s La Valse (1951) was Tanaquil LeClercq and Nicholas Magallanes. The day after the premiere...