Elise Flagg (born 1951) is an American ballet dancer who worked with George Balanchine as a dancer at the

New York City Ballet 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' ...

Life

Elise Flagg was born December 23, 1951 in

Detroit, Michigan Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at ...

. Her sister Laura is also a dancer. In the 1960s and 1960s Flagg danced with the

. She was featured in George Balanchine's ''

Western Symphony ''Western Symphony'' is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to American folk tunes arranged by Hershy Kay. It premiered on September 7, 1954 at the City Center of Music and Drama in New ...

'', ''

Ivesiana ''Ivesiana'' is a ballet choreographed by George Balanchine to compositions by Charles Ives. The ballet premiered on September 14, 1954, four months after Ives's death, at the City Center of Music and Drama, performed by the New York City Ball ...

'' and '' A Midsummer Night's Dream''. She also performed in Richard Tanner's ''Octuor''. After

Gelsey Kirkland Gelsey Kirkland (born December 29, 1952) is an American ballerina. She received early ballet training at the School of American Ballet. Kirkland joined the New York City Ballet in 1968 at age 15, at the invitation of George Balanchine. She was ...

suffered injury, Flagg danced the Nightingale in Kirkland's place in

John Taras John Taras (April 18, 1919 – April 2, 2004) was an American ballet master, repetiteur, and choreographer. Early life and education Born on the Lower East Side of New York City to Ukrainian parents, he was sent at age 16 to study ballet ...

' production of '' Song of the Nightingale'' at the 1972 Stravinsky Festival. After Kirkland recovered from her injury, Flagg resumed the role of the Mechanical Nightingale opposite her. Flagg runs a dance academy, the Elise Flagg Academy of Dance. In 2020 the academy moved from

West Chicago West Chicago is a city in DuPage County, Illinois, United States. The population was 27,086 at the 2010 census. It was formerly named Junction and later Turner, after its founder, John B. Turner, president of the Galena and Chicago Union Railroa ...

to a new studio in Geneva, Illinois.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Flagg, Elise 1951 births Living people People from Detroit 20th-century American ballet dancers American ballerinas