Farewell to Maria Tallchief & Freddie Franklin

May 5, 2013

Today we acknowledge the passing of two giants in ballet. Find our “In Memoriam” on Maria Tallchief here, and stand by for the one on Frederic Franklin. Tallchief and Franklin’s paths crossed in the early 1940s when she was a young dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and he was a strong force in the company. Years later, from 1960 to ’62, when Tallchief left New York City Ballet to dance with American Ballet Theatre, Franklin came back specifically to partner her. He has been a beloved presence, both onstage and off, in ABT for many years.

There are so many surprises to Freddie. In one public forum, at New York City Center, he admitted that he fell madly in love with Danilova. At another, at the Guggenheim Works & Process, he said about a certain lull in his youth, “I started out as a trained hoofer, and I had all that ballet training and nowhere to do it.” There will no doubt be more surprises in our official “In Memoriam,” to be written by ABT’s Sascha Radetsky.

—Wendy Perron