Melissa Hayden (dancer)

Melissa Hayden (1965)

Melissa Hayden (1956), photo by Carl van Vechten

Melissa Hayden (born Mildred Herman , nickname Millie ; born April 25, 1923 in Toronto , † August 9, 2006 in Winston-Salem , North Carolina ) was a Canadian ballet dancer. For several years she was the prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet .

youth

Hayden was the second daughter of the Russian immigrant Jacob Herman and his wife Kate Weinberg. In her parents' house she was nicknamed Millie , by which she was known throughout her life.

Dance career

In the early 1940s she moved to New York City to join the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall . From 1945 to 1947 she was a member of the American Ballet Theater and joined the New York City Ballet shortly after it was founded in 1948 . There she often performed with the dancer Jacques d'Amboise . She was the prima ballerina of the New York City Ballet from 1955 until she retired from the stage in 1973 .

Movie and TV

Hayden appeared regularly on television on The Kate Smith Show and The Ed Sullivan Show . In 1952 she played the dance scenes for Claire Bloom in the film Limelight , which was released in cinemas in Germany under the title of Rampenlicht . In 1965 she came to America as the sugar fairy in an hour-long rendition of The Nutcracker on TV. The film was recorded in 1964 and aired on the CBS four days before Christmas 1965 . In addition to Edward Villella and Patricia McBride, other internationally known dancers appeared in the greatly changed plot . The story was read by Eddie Albert , who had just become known at the time with the television series Green Acres .

After the dance career

After she appeared in more than 60 ballet productions, mostly directed by George Balanchine , Hayden ended her dance career in 1973. The ballet "Cortège Hongrois", which is still in the repertoire of the New York City Ballet's, was designed by Balanchine in her honor at the end of her career. At the premiere of the ballet presented her with New York Mayor John Lindsay , the Handel Medal of the city, in his speech, he praised it as "extraordinary ballerina who has filled the hearts of her audience with joy." (Eng .: "extraordinary ballerina who delights the hearts of her audience.")

After retiring from the stage, she became head of the ballet department at Skidmore College , as well as teaching at the School of Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle and at her own newly opened school in New York City. From 1983 until a month before her death, she also taught at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.

Private life

Hayden married Donald Coleman, an attorney with whom she had two children, Stuart and Jennifer. She died of a pancreatic tumor in her home in Winston-Salem.

Works

Hayden has published various books.

• Melissa Hayden, Offstage and On (1963)
• Ballet Exercises for Figure, Grace & Beauty (1969)
• Dancer to Dancer: Advice for Today's Dancer (1981) ISBN 0385155824
• The Nutcracker Ballet, ilustrado por Stephen Johnson (1992) ISBN 0836245016

literature

• Gustaitis, Rasa: Melissa Hayden Ballerina. Nelson. 1967. (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Jewish Women Archive , on jwa.org, viewed June 12, 2009
2. ↑ Legendary Balanchine Ballerina Melissa Hayden Dies at 83 , August 10, 2006, by Vivien Schweitzer, obituary at Playbillarts, on playbillarts.com, seen on June 12, 2009 (English)
3. ↑ Andros on Ballet ( Memento of the original from October 12, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , on michaelminn.net, viewed June 12, 2009 
4. ↑ NY Times , New York Times obituary , August 10, 2006, viewed June 12, 2009
5. ↑ Obituary at the Telegraph , obituary in the Daily Telegraph of August 12, 2006, viewed June 12, 2009