André Eglevsky

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André Eglevsky in Apollo, 1944. (credit: Fred Fehl)

(born Dec. 21, 1917, Moscow, Russia — died Dec. 4, 1977, Elmira, N.Y., U.S.) Russian-born U.S. ballet dancer and teacher. He left Russia as a child and studied in Paris, becoming a lead dancer with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo at age 14. He moved to the U.S. in 1937 and danced with a number of companies before joining the New York City Ballet (1951 – 58). There he created leading roles in several of George Balanchine's ballets, including Scotch Symphony and Caracole. He also taught at the School of American Ballet. In 1958 he opened his own ballet school, and in 1961he established the Eglevsky Ballet.

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Eglevsky, André (b Moscow, 21 Dec. 1917, d Elmira, NY, 4 Dec. 1977). Russian-US dancer and teacher. He studied with Egorova, Kshessinska, Volonine, N. Legat, and at the School of American Ballet, joining de Basil's Ballets Russes de Monte Carlo in 1931 (possibly 1932). He subsequently danced with Woizikowski's company (1935), R. Blum's Ballets de Monte Carlo (1936-7), American Ballet (1937-8), Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo (1939-42), Ballet Theatre (1942-3 and 1945-6), Marquis de Cuevas' Ballet International (1944), Massine's Ballet Russe Highlights (1945), de Basil's Original Ballet Russe (1947), de Cuevas's Grand Ballet de Monte Carlo (1947-50), and New York City Ballet (1951-8). The first great male dancer of the post-Diaghilev era, he was renowned for his grace and virtuosity (especially his ability to perform over a dozen pirouettes). He was also a fine actor and excelled in Fokine's ballets, creating roles in his L'Épreuve d'amour (1936), Don Juan (1936), and Les Éléments (1937). He created roles in many other works, too, including Massine's Choreartium (1933) and Mam'zelle Angot (1943) and Balanchine's Capriccio brillant (1951), Swan Lake (1951), Scotch Symphony (1952), Western Symphony (1954), and Waltz-Scherzo (1958). He also appeared at Radio City Music Hall and in Chaplin's film Limelight (1952). From 1958 he taught at School of American Ballet and in 1961 founded the Eglevsky School in New York. He was coauthor (with John Gregory) of The Heritage of a Ballet Master, Nicolas Legat (New York, 1977).