In June 1955, just months after meeting during the Broadway run of House of Flowers, Carmen de Lavallade and Geoffrey Holder tied the knot. It was the start of one of dance’s longest, most celebrated on- and offstage partnerships, which lasted until Holder passed away in 2014. “She is the most beautiful woman in my […]

On January 17, 1920, one of American ballet’s most celebrated dance actresses was born. Nora Kaye’s father was an actor who’d worked under Konstantin Stanislavski; her earliest ballet teacher was Ballets Russes choreographer Michel Fokine. (“He was more interested in creating roles than in teaching class,” she recalled in the February 1965 issue of Dance […]

In the November 1954 issue of Dance Magazine, we shared excerpts from an autobiographical essay written by Galina Ulanova. Reflecting on her memories of performing small roles as a self-professedly reluctant ballet student, she wrote, “Belief comes so easily in childhood. And what a pity it is that this belief in what is happening on […]

Paul Taylor’s Post Meridian was last performed 30 years ago, which is well before any of the company’s current dancers joined Paul Taylor Dance Company. In fact, it’s before some of the dancers were even born. Every step and extreme angle of the body in the dream-like world of the 1965 work will be fine-tuned […]

What’s better than one film about Rudolf Nureyev? Two films about Rudolf Nureyev! We’re excited to share that a feature-length documentary titled Nureyev is slated to make its North American premiere next month. Nureyev will be shown in major U.S. cities starting April 19, giving you just enough time time to brush up on your […]

When I was a young dancer in Louisville, Kentucky, my ballet teacher used to speak a lot about Merrill Ashley. She brought neoclassical technique to exquisite new heights under Balanchine, and as a technician, she famously paved the way for today’s balletic whiz kids. (Later, when I was a teenager, I was lucky enough to […]

We can all relate to the feeling: You go see a new dance work that you absolutely love, and when you get home, you have no choice but to create a bronze sculpture depicting the performance. Okay, maybe not. But in 1912, that’s exactly what Auguste Rodin did after seeing the premiere of Vaslav Nijinsky’s […]

When we’re talking about the history of black dancers in ballet, three names typically pop up: Raven Wilkinson at Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Janet Collins at New York’s Metropolitan Opera and Arthur Mitchell at New York City Ballet. But in the 1930s through 50s, there was a largely overlooked hot spot for black ballet […]