Melissa Hayden | |
|---|---|
 Hayden in 1965 | |
| Born | Mildred Hermen April 25, 1923 Toronto, Ontario, Canada |
| Died | August 9, 2006 (aged 83) |
| Occupation | Ballerina |
| Spouse | Don Coleman |
| Children | 2 |
Melissa Hayden (bornMildred Herman, April 25, 1923,Toronto; died August 9, 2006,Winston-Salem, North Carolina) was a Canadianballerina at theNew York City Ballet.
Hayden was born in Toronto as the second daughter of Jacob Herman and his wife Kate Weinberg, Jewish immigrants from Russia. The young Mildred was calledMillie at home, a nickname she kept for the rest of her life.[1]
In the early 1940s, she moved to New York City to join theballet corps atRadio City Music Hall. From 1945 to 1947, she was a member of theAmerican Ballet Theatre; she joined theNew York City Ballet shortly after its founding in 1948, becoming a principal dancer in 1955 and remaining there until her retirement in 1973.Jacques d'Amboise was a frequent partner.[2][3]
Hayden appeared frequently on television, especiallyThe Kate Smith Show andThe Ed Sullivan Show. In 1952 she performed as thedance double forClaire Bloom in the filmLimelight.
In 1965, she was seen on American television as the Sugar Plum Fairy in a one-hour German-American adaptation ofThe Nutcracker. Filmed in 1964 and first shown in the United States byCBS just four days before Christmas 1965, the production, with a heavily altered storyline, featured an international cast of dancers and English narration byEddie Albert.Edward Villella andPatricia McBride also starred.
After appearing in over 60 ballets, mainly works byGeorge Balanchine, Hayden retired as a dancer in 1973. Balanchine honored her on her retirement by creating the ballet "Cortege Hongrois". At the premiere of the piece,MayorJohn Lindsay presented Hayden with the city'sHandel Medallion, praising her as an "extraordinary ballerina who has filled the hearts of her audience with joy".[4]
After her retirement, she became head of the ballet department atSkidmore College, and taught ballet at the School of Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, and in New York City, where she opened her own school. From 1983 until just a month before her death, she taught at theNorth Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem, where she stressed the importance of the Balanchine technique. She rehearsed and staged some of Balanchine's most demanding works includingConcerto Barocco, and the masterfulTheme & Variations.[5]
Hayden married lawyer-businessman Donald Coleman. The couple had two children.[6] Hayden died at her home in Winston-Salem ofpancreatic cancer, aged 83.
Hayden was also an author of several books:
