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Darci Kistler | |
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 Kistler instructs the School of American Ballet in a 2014 video, Jock Soto in the background | |
| Born | June 4, 1964 Riverside, California, U.S. |
| Nationality | American |
| Occupation | Ballerina |
| Years active | 1980–2009 |
| Spouse | |
| Children | Talicia Tove Martins |
Darci Kistler (born June 4, 1964) [1] is an American ballerina. She is often said to be the last muse for choreographer George Balanchine.
Kistler was born in Riverside, California, the fifth child (with four older brothers) of a medical doctor and his wife. Her brothers excelled in amateur wrestling, and she followed them into water-skiing, basketball, football and horseback riding.
At age 4, Kistler received her first tutu and began ballet training that same year. She claimed although she was always athletic, she could never keep to her brothers—so ballet turned out to be one cornerstone she had mastered. After seeing a ballet performance of Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, she decided she wanted to take up ballet herself. She studied with Mary Lynn at Mary Lynn's Ballet Arts and later with Irina Kosmovska in Los Angeles.
In early 1979, Kistler was selected to study at New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet (SAB), where she met George Balanchine. She joined the New York City Ballet (NYCB) corps de ballet in 1980, and was featured in a Time article before the end of the year. [2]
Kistler was promoted to (NYCB) soloist in 1981 and principal dancer in 1982, the youngest ever at 17 years. Signature roles include Balanchine's Jewels (Diamonds), Agon , Prodigal Son and Symphony in C . She danced the rôle of the Sugarplum Fairy in City Ballet's 1993 film version of The Nutcracker . She eventually wrote her own autobiography "Ballerina: My Story" as a children's book.
Kistler joined the SAB's permanent faculty in 1994.
Throughout her career, she had numerous dance-related injuries, including a broken ankle that sidelined her for three years. She went through several surgeries, including for her back. [3]
In February 2009, Kistler announced her retirement from New York City Ballet at the end of the 2010 season. [3] Her farewell performance took place on June 27, 2010, [4] and consisted of ballets choreographed by Balanchine and Martins:
Kistler married New York City Ballet's balletmaster-in-chief Peter Martins in 1991. In July 1992, Martins was arrested and held for five hours after Kistler phoned the police for help. Kistler filed an affidavit accusing him of assaulting her, pushing and slapping her, and cutting and bruising her arms and legs, leading to a charge of third-degree assault (a misdemeanor). [5] [6] Kistler dropped the charges a few days later, saying she preferred to resolve the matter without the court's intervention. [5] [7] When she next performed in a ballet two days later, she reportedly wore heavy makeup to conceal bruises she had suffered. [5] Several people who knew the two well claimed it wasn't the first time Martins had hit Kistler. [8]
Kistler and Martins have one daughter, Talicia Tove Martins, born June 13, 1996. [9]
New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's first music director. City Ballet grew out of earlier troupes: the Producing Company of the School of American Ballet, 1934; the American Ballet, 1935, and Ballet Caravan, 1936, which merged into American Ballet Caravan, 1941; and directly from the Ballet Society, 1946.
Peter Martins is a Danish former ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and John Taras as balletmaster in 1981. He retired from dancing in 1983, having achieved the rank of danseur noble, becoming Co-Ballet Master-In-Chief with Robbins. From 1990 until January 2018, he was solely responsible for artistic leadership of City Ballet.
Katherine Healy is an American former principal ballerina and actress who also had a professional performing career in figure skating.
Noelani Pantastico is an American ballet dancer. She was formerly a principal dancer with Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle and also danced at the Les Ballets de Monte-Carlo in Monaco.
Wendy Whelan is an American ballet dancer. She was principal dancer with the New York City Ballet and performed with the company for 30 years, and toured in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. Whelan has also been an influential guest artist with Morphoses/The Wheeldon Company. In 2019, Whelan was named Associate Artistic Director of New York City Ballet.
Maria Kowroski is an American ballet dancer. She was a principal dancer at the New York City Ballet.
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Diana Adams was a principal dancer for the New York City Ballet from 1950 to 1963 and favorite of George Balanchine, later becoming a teacher at — and dean of — the School of American Ballet.
Molly Smolen is an American ballet dancer.
Choreographer George Balanchine's production of Peptipa and Tchaikovsky's 1892 ballet The Nutcracker is a broadly popular version of the ballet often performed in the United States. Conceived for the New York City Ballet, its premiere took place on February 2, 1954 at City Center, New York, with costumes by Karinska, sets by Horace Armistead and lighting and production by Jean Rosenthal.
The Nutcracker, also known as George Balanchine's The Nutcracker, is a 1993 American Christmas ballet film based on Peter Martins's stage production and directed by Emile Ardolino. It stars Darci Kistler, Damian Woetzel, Kyra Nichols, Bart Robinson Cook, Macaulay Culkin, Jessica Lynn Cohen, Wendy Whelan, Margaret Tracey, Gen Horiuchi, Tom Gold, and the New York City Ballet.
Heléne Alexopoulos is an American retired ballet dancer. She was a student of Maria Tallchief who was discovered by George Balanchine as a teenager. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1978, she was promoted to principal dancer in 1989, and she retired in 2002.
Unity Sickles Phelan is an American ballet dancer. She joined the New York City Ballet in 2013 and was promoted to principal dancer in 2021. Outside of the company, she had also danced in films John Wick: Chapter 3 – Parabellum and I'm Thinking of Ending Things.
Duo Concertant is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to Stravinsky's score of the same name. The ballet was created for New York City Ballet's Stravinsky Festival, a tribute to the composer a year after his death, and premiered on June 22, 1972, at the New York State Theater, danced by Kay Mazzo and Peter Martins.
Mira Nadon is an American ballet dancer. She joined the New York City Ballet in 2018, and in 2023, she was promoted to principal dancer, as the first Asian American woman to hold this position.
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