RHayden, Melissa1923╨ballet dancerBorn in Toronto on April 25, 1923, Mildred Herman began studying dance while a schoolgirl in her native city. In 1945 she went to New York City and found a position in the corps de ballet at Radio City Music Hall. Within a few months she had been accepted by the Ballet Theatre (now American Ballet Theatre) company, in which she rose rapidly to the rank of soloist. In 1949, after a South American tour with the Ballet Alicia Alonso, she joined the New York City Ballet under George Balanchine. She attracted high critical praise in her debut with that company in The Duel in February 1950 and established herself as a great ballerina in creating a role in the premiere of Frederick Ashton╒s Illuminations the next month. In December she danced a principal role in Jerome Robbins╒s Age of Anxiety. Other notable performances were those in Todd Bolender╒s The Miraculous Mandarin in 1951, Robbins╒s The Pied Piper in 1951, Balanchine╒s Caracole in 1952, and Robbins╒s The Cage in 1952. In 1952 she appeared in the Charlie Chaplin film Limelight. From April 1953 to May 1954 Hayden was again with Ballet Theatre, and after a retirement of nearly a year she rejoined the New York City Ballet in February 1955. She remained with that company thereafter until her final retirement in 1973. During that long period of stardom she made acclaimed appearances in Balanchine╒s Ivesiana in 1955 and in Bolender╒s Still Point in 1956, and in premieres of Balanchine╒s Divertimento No. 15 (a longer version of Caracole) in 1956, Agon, 1957, Stars and Stripes, 1958, Episodes, 1959, Liebeslieder Walzer, 1960, A Midsummer Night╒s Dream, 1962, Brahms╨Schoenberg Quartet, 1966, Glinkiana, 1966, and CortÅge hongroise, created especially for her, 1973, and in Robbins╒s In the Night, 1970. She was a frequent guest star with the National Ballet of Canada, the Royal Ballet of London, and other companies. In 1963 she published Melissa Hayden╤Off Stage and On. Her final performance was in CortÅge hongroise at Wolf Trap Farm, Virginia, in September 1973. On her retirement Hayden was awarded New York City╒s Handel Medallion. In 1973 she became artist-in-residence at Skidmore College, and in 1974 she established a dance school in Saratoga, New York. In 1976 she was named artistic director of the Pacific Northwest Dance in Seattle. She published Dancer to Dancer, 1981, offering practical advice to dancers based on her own experiences, and The Nutcracker Ballet, 1992, retelling the classic ballet for young readers. In 1983 she joined the dance faculty at the North Carolina School of the Arts. ûstyl ` : ! ¬ 5¬ 5¬ % !I ^ !I f !I ▐ !I δ !I 9 !I G !I é !I Ö !I ¡ !I ╗ !I ╥ !I ┌ !I ≥ !I · !I 6 !I ? !I C 5¬ D !I ê !I É !I ½ !I ╢ !I ß !I ⌠ !I
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