She danced with the New York City Ballet for thirty years beginning in 1959, and she became a principal two years after she joined it. Under the leadership of George Balanchine, she danced numerous roles, including Hermia in A Midsummer Night's Dream, Colombine in Harlequinade, and the Pearly Queen in Union Jack.
She also danced roles created by Jerome Robbins, himself a legend of the New York stage. Dances at a Gathering, In the Night, and The Goldberg Variations are among the works of his that she had significant parts in.
Today, Patricia McBride is in Charlotte, North Carolina, working alongside her husband, fellow New York City Ballet alumnus Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux, at the Charlotte Ballet. He's the president and artistic director of the company, and she's its associate artistic director and master teacher . . . meaning she's passing her dance expertise onto young dancers, such as Anna Gerberich, whom I featured earlier in this fifth dance series.
Patricia McBride has been in the news recently, and for something positive, I might add; she joined Al Green, Tom Hanks, Sting and Lily Tomlin as one of the honorees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts for 2014. The honor ceremony, which took place on December 7, is being broadcast by CBS-TV on December 30.
No comments:
Post a Comment