Just before the premiere of Firebird, ballerina Maria Tallchief sensed disaster. She was to dance the title role, but a recent tonsillectomy had left her drained and sluggish. During the final dress rehearsal, a flying lift with partner Francisco Moncion had gone poorly, upsetting Moncion. Tallchief’s costume arrived from designer Barbara Karinska’s studio only a few hours before showtime, and neither Karinska nor George Balanchine were happy with the way it fit. The mood backstage at the then-fledgling New York City Ballet was tense. Read the whole story at playbill.com.
Margaret Fuhrer 