The 92nd Street Y Harkness Dance Festival enters its 23rd season presenting five artists over five weeks, from February 24 through March 25, 2017. Centered around the theme of Then, Now + Next, the 2017 Festival features world premieres from two companies and showcases a varied spectrum of work, from revivals of classic works to cutting-edge pieces by emerging talent.
This Friday, June 20, 10-11:30 p.m. on PBS (check local listings**, New York metro area at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN) is the national broadcast premiere of dance-disability documentary American Masters -- Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun, which reveals the story of influential New York City Ballet principal dancer and polio survivor Tanaquil Le Clercq (1929-2000), known as 'Tanny.' The film will be available on DVD June 24 from Kino Lorber.
Of all the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq (1929-2000), known as 'Tanny,' was surely among the most transcendent. With a body unlike any before hers, she mesmerized viewers and choreographers alike as principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, and became a muse to both her husband George Balanchine and friend Jerome Robbins. Then, at age 27 and the height of her fame, Le Clercq was stricken with polio and paralyzed; she never danced again. Emmy- and Peabody-winning filmmaker Nancy Buirski (The Loving Story) brings Tanny's poignant story to the screen for the first time inAmerican Masters -- Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun, premiering nationally Friday, June 20, 10-11:30 p.m. on PBS (check local listings, New York metro area at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN).
Emmy-winning filmmaker Nancy Buirski spotlights Le Clercq's ballet career, struggle with polio, and influence on George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and dance.
American Masters Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun, premieres nationally Friday, June 20, 10-11:30 p.m. on PBS (check local listings, New York metro area at 9 p.m. on THIRTEEN).
As a welcome surprise during the New York City Ballet matinee on Saturday, March 1st 2014 at the Koch Theater, the recently renovated orchestra pit rose so that Interim Music Director Andrews Sills could give us an interesting history lesson with the musicians in full view. Under the direction of Guest Conductor Henrik Vagn Christensen, they played passages from Debussy's "Prelude to an Afternoon of a Faun" and from works by Saint-Saens, Wagner, and Chopin while Sills explained that Debussy was "a bridge" between the legacy of the romantic age and the modern era.
The Film Society of Lincoln Center announced today the details of the additional programming that will complement the Main Slate selections at the 2013 New York Film Festival.
Tanaquil LeClercq was one of Balanchine's most famous ballerinas from the late 1940s until 1956. Unfortunately we don't have much footage of her in full length ballets, so here's one that spotlights her immense gifts not only for dance, but comedy as well.