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By Root 1282 0

Violette Verdy had won the hearts of every ballet fan in New York City by her brilliance in American Ballet Theatre’s production of Miss Julie. Balanchine wanted her in his company—and got her. She arrived, and garnished and spiced every role she danced. The gorgeous technique of Patricia Wilde, Mimi Paul and her swan’s neck, equal to the heaven-sent extension of her limbs, and the fierce, dramatic intensity of Melissa Hayden—they all graced the company for decades, and Balanchine molded many ballets around their superb gifts. As an honor for Melissa at her retirement, he choreographed a ballet specifically for her, Cortège Hongrois. Merrill Ashley’s artistry so inspired him, he created two ballets for her—and her performances in them are unforgettable. I watched the premiere of Ballo della Regina, the first of the two, and envied her partner, Robert Weiss.10 With his slim, beautifully proportioned body, he flew all over the stage. But the ballet was about the Regina, Merrill. She danced like an auburn-haired filly, gamboling and cavorting on the meadow of the stage, inhaling sunlight as well as air, as if she couldn’t get enough.

Ballo della Regina: Balanchine demonstrating to Robert Weiss how to partner Merrill, and wishing he could perform with her, 1978 (image credit 13.12)

And how Balanchine adored Kyra Nichols. “She’s perfect. Uncomplicated—like fresh water.” Kay Mazzo, gentle, porcelain-like. “She is china doll. Very precious, delicate. Treat carefully—easily broken,” he counseled. Karin von Aroldingen became Balanchine’s best friend in the company. At the end of his life, he left most of his ballets to her, and to Tanny.

Ballo della Regina, 1978 (image credit 13.13)

With the exception of Vera Zorina, I was privileged to partner every one of his muses.

As my career was ending, I was too old to partner the teenage Darci Kistler, but I cast her in several of my ballets and paired her with my son Christopher.

Rehearsing with Darci and Chris, early 1980s (image credit 13.14)

There were ballerinas outside of NYCB who captured Balanchine’s eye and heart. In Switzerland, he kept a sort of backup ballet company, the Geneva Ballet. Its artistic director, Patricia Neary, was a favorite of his and had been a greatly admired ballerina while in NYCB. Balanchine often escaped the pressures in New York by visiting Patty and her company. When informed I was performing there as a guest artist, he was excited. “Oh, you will dance with Janie Parker.” The star of the Geneva Ballet, Janie was a dancer from Atlanta, Georgia, who Balanchine adored and desperately wanted for New York City Ballet. To his shock, she turned him down, and, when she left Geneva, she accepted a place at the Houston Ballet with its artistic director, Ben Stevenson. In her little-girl voice, Janie said, “I’m uncomfortable in New York City; it’s too fast and too much to handle. At NYCB, I’d have to compete and fight with the other ballerinas for roles.”

“Stupid girl!” Balanchine cried out. “She took job with this Stevenson man, when she could have had Balanchine. I would have given her everything. Even Coppélia.”

In the year before his death, I often escorted Balanchine to visit the legendary Dr. James Gould for ear tests. Killing time in the waiting room, I once asked, “Mr. B, in the history of all the ballerinas you’ve taught and choreographed for—from the earliest days, Toumanova, Baronova, Riabouchinska, all the way up till today—who do you consider the most talented? The most unusual?” He immediately answered: “Allegra. She is the most gifted. She is missing only one element in ‘the formula to be perfect.’ … It’s like chemistry in a jar. Energy, lots of it, must be there. That’s the soup that everything cooks in. Then you put in ambition and humility. ‘Ah, I’m not good enough yet, I can be better.’ But, there must be balance—not so much humility that you end up saying, ‘I’m not good enough, I’ll never be ready.’ You must have in the formula pride, but not so much that the dancer says, ‘I don’t do matinees.’ You can be stupid and still dance beautifully,