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 Ukrainian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Ukraine * Something relating to Ukrainians, an East Slavic people from Eastern Europe * Something relating to demographics of Ukraine in terms of demography and population of Ukraine * So ...

parents, he was sent at age 16 to study ballet with

Michel Fokine Michael Fokine, ''Mikhail Mikhaylovich Fokin'', group=lower-alpha ( – 22 August 1942) was a groundbreaking Imperial Russian choreographer and dancer. Career Early years Fokine was born in Saint Petersburg to a prosperous merchant an ...

, Anatole Vilzak, Pierre Vladimiroff and Ludmila Shollar, and later to the School of American Ballet.

Career

He first appeared professionally with Opera on Tour for which Fokine arranged dance. He performed at the 1939 New York World's Fair with

Ballet Caravan Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...

at the Ford Pavilion and joined

Catherine Littlefield Catherine Littlefield (1905–1951) was an American ballerina, choreographer, ballet teacher, and director. She founded the Philadelphia Ballet (originally the Littlefield Ballet) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1935. It was the first American b ...

's Philadelphia Ballet for a 1941 tour of the southern states, and in 1942 was in the Broadway revival of

J. M. Barrie Sir James Matthew Barrie, 1st Baronet, (; 9 May 1860 19 June 1937) was a Scottish novelist and playwright, best remembered as the creator of Peter Pan. He was born and educated in Scotland and then moved to London, where he wrote several succ ...

's ''

A Kiss for Cinderella ''A Kiss for Cinderella'' is a play by J. M. Barrie. It was first produced in London at Wyndham's Theatre on March 16, 1916, starring Gerald du Maurier and Hilda Trevelyan, enjoying great success over 156 performances, and with several annual Ch ...

''. He then toured South America with American Ballet Caravan. Taras joined

Ballet Theatre American Ballet Theatre (ABT) is a classical ballet company based in New York City. Founded in 1939 by Lucia Chase and Richard Pleasant, it is recognized as one of the world's leading classical ballet companies. Through 2019, it had an annual ei ...

in 1942 and rose to soloist. He rehearsed the ballets of Lichine,

DeMille DeMille or De Mille is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Agnes De Mille, American dance and choreographer * Beatrice deMille, English-born American playwright and screenwriter *Cecil B. DeMille Cecil Blount DeMille (; Augu ...

, Nijinska, Balanchine and Tudor, and in 1946 choreographed his first ballet, ''Graziana''. He danced the 1947 season with the Markova-Dolin Company at the Chicago Civic Opera and produced '' Camille'' for de Basil's

Original Ballet Russe The Original Ballet Russe (originally named Ballets Russes de Monte-Carlo) was a ballet company established in 1931 by René Blum and Colonel Wassily de Basil as a successor to the Ballets Russes, founded in 1909 by Sergei Diaghilev. The company ...

with

Alicia Markova Dame Alicia Markova DBE (1 December 1910 – 2 December 2004) was a British ballerina and a choreographer, director and teacher of classical ballet. Most noted for her career with Sergei Diaghilev's Ballets Russes and touring internation ...

and Anton Dolin as the leads. Taras was principal dancer in de Basil's company and regisseur for their Covent Garden and Paris seasons. He produced ''The Minotaur'' for

Ballet Society Ballet Society is a non-profit educational institution founded in 1946 by Lincoln Kirstein and George Balanchine. At its founding, Balanchine was the Artistic Director and Kirstein served as the Secretary. The president of Ballet Society is Nanc ...

that year. In 1949 he choreographed for the experimental Ballets des Champs-Élysées. Taras staged the ''

Spring Symphony The Spring Symphony is a choral symphony by Benjamin Britten, his Opus 44. It is dedicated to Serge Koussevitzky and the Boston Symphony Orchestra. It was premiered in the Concertgebouw, Amsterdam, on Thursday 14 July 1949 (not 9 July which is ...

'' for the

San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...

and '' Designs with Strings'' to music of

Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky , group=n ( ; 7 May 1840 – 6 November 1893) was a Russian composer of the Romantic period. He was the first Russian composer whose music would make a lasting impression internationally. He wrote some of the most popu ...

for the Metropolitan Ballet in Edinburgh in 1948, from which time until 1959 he was choreographer and balletmaster for the

Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas Jorge Cuevas Bartholín, known as George de Cuevas (1885 – 22 February 1961), was a Chilean-born ballet impresario and choreographer who was best known for the Grand Ballet du Marquis de Cuevas that he formed in 1944. Life and career Cueva ...

. Among the ballets he made for that company was ''Piège de Lumière'' from 1952 (which he restaged for

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' ...

in 1964). He choreographed ''Fanfare for a Prince'' as a '' pièce d'occasion'' at the Monte-Carlo Opera for the 1956 marriage of

Prince Rainier Rainier III (Rainier Louis Henri Maxence Bertrand Grimaldi; 31 May 1923 – 6 April 2005) was Prince of Monaco from 1949 to his death in 2005. Rainier ruled the Principality of Monaco for almost 56 years, making him one of the longest-ruling m ...

and

Grace Kelly Grace Patricia Kelly (November 12, 1929 – September 14, 1982) was an American actress who, after starring in several significant films in the early to mid-1950s, became Princess of Monaco by marrying Prince Rainier III in April 1956. Kelly ...

. Balanchine invited Taras to stage ''

La Sonnambula ''La sonnambula'' (''The Sleepwalker'') is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the ''bel canto'' tradition by Vincenzo Bellini set to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ''ballet-pantomime'' written by Eu ...

'' at

in 1959, where served as choreographer and ballet master until 1984; among his works for City Ballet are ''Ebony Concerto'', ''Concerto for Piano and Winds'', '' Scenes de Ballet'', '' Song of the Nightingale'' and ''

Persephone In ancient Greek mythology and religion, Persephone ( ; gr, Περσεφόνη, Persephónē), also called Kore or Cora ( ; gr, Κόρη, Kórē, the maiden), is the daughter of Zeus and Demeter. She became the queen of the underworld after ...

'' for the Stravinsky festivals; ''

Daphnis and Chloe ''Daphnis and Chloe'' ( el, Δάφνις καὶ Χλόη, ''Daphnis kai Chloē'') is an ancient Greek novel written in the Roman Empire, the only known work of the second-century AD Greek novelist and Hellenistic romance, romance writer Longus ...

'' for the 1975 Ravel festival and ''

Souvenir de Florence The String Sextet in D minor "''Souvenir de Florence''", Op. 70, is a string sextet scored for 2 violins, 2 violas, and 2 cellos composed in the summer of 1890 by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. Tchaikovsky dedicated the work to the St. Petersburg Chamb ...

'' for the 1981 Tchaikovsky festival. His 1963 Stravinsky ballet, ''

Arcade Arcade most often refers to: * Arcade game, a coin-operated game machine ** Arcade cabinet, housing which holds an arcade game's hardware ** Arcade system board, a standardized printed circuit board * Amusement arcade, a place with arcade games * ...

'' was

Suzanne Farrell Suzanne Farrell (born August 16, 1945) is an American ballerina and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Farrell began her ballet training at the age of eight. In 1960, she received a scholarship ...

's first featured role, as the young girl whose budding romance with Arthur Mitchell is destroyed by a group of chaperones. He was balletmaster of the

Paris Opera Ballet The Paris Opera Ballet () is a French ballet company that is an integral part of the Paris Opera. It is the oldest national ballet company, and many European and international ballet companies can trace their origins to it. It is still regarded a ...

1969 to 1970, artistic director of West Berlin's Staatsballet Berlin from 1970 to 1972, staged ''

Le Sacre du Printemps , image = Roerich Rite of Spring.jpg , image_size = 350px , caption = Concept design for act 1, part of Nicholas Roerich's designs for Diaghilev's 1913 production of ' , composer = Igor Stravinsky , based_on ...

'' at La Scala in Milan for

Natalia Makarova Natalia Romanovna Makarova (russian: Ната́лия Рома́новна Мака́рова, born 21 November 1940) is a Russian prima ballerina and choreographer. ''The History of Dance'', published in 1981, notes that "her performances set ...

, and Sir Frederick Ashton's ''Illuminations'' for the Joffrey Ballet and the

Royal Ballet The Royal Ballet is a British internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, London, England. The largest of the five major ballet companies in Great Britain, the Royal Ballet was founded in ...

, Covent Garden. Taras staged his own version of ''

The Firebird ''The Firebird'' (french: L'Oiseau de feu, link=no; russian: Жар-птица, Zhar-ptitsa, link=no) is a ballet and orchestral concert work by the Russian composer Igor Stravinsky. It was written for the 1910 Paris season of Sergei Diaghilev' ...

'' for

Dance Theatre of Harlem Dance Theatre of Harlem (DTH) is an American professional ballet company and school based in Harlem, New York City. It was founded in 1969 under the directorship of Arthur Mitchell and later partnered with Karel Shook. Milton Rosenstock served ...

, which was seen on

PBS The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educat ...

's live show ''Kennedy Center Tonight.'' The original cast of the ballet starred Lorraine Graves as the princess, Donald Williams as the prince, and Stephanie Dabney whose performances as the eponymous character rocketed her to stardom. Additionally Taras has staged and rehearsed Balanchine's ballets for major companies, including the premiere of the Bolshoi Ballet in a Balanchine work as part of their centenary celebration of Serge Prokofiev. Mikhail Baryshnikov asked him in 1984 to join American Ballet Theatre as associate director. During his tenure at ABT, he served as ballet master and choreographer for the company. In the wake of Baryshnikov's departure from the company, Taras resigned as well. He died on April 2, 2004. He is survived by his wife, Hélène Sadowska, and his stepdaughter, Anne.

Bibliography

* ''George Balanchine: Ballet Master'' by

Richard Buckle (Christopher) Richard Sandford Buckle CBE (6 August 1916 – 12 October 2001), was a lifelong English devotee of ballet, and a well-known ballet critic. He founded the magazine ''Ballet'' in 1939. Early life Buckle was the only son of Lieute ...

and John Taras,

Random House Random House is an American book publisher and the largest general-interest paperback publisher in the world. The company has several independently managed subsidiaries around the world. It is part of Penguin Random House, which is owned by Germ ...

, New York, 1988.

References

External links

''NY Times'' obituary
by

Anna Kisselgoff Anna Kisselgoff (born 12 January 1938) is a dance critic and cultural news reporter for ''The New York Times''. She began at the ''Times'' as a dance critic and cultural news reporter in 1968, and became its Chief Dance Critic in 1977, a role she h ...

, April 5, 2004

Reviews

''NY Times'' review of ''Tender Night'', later titled ''Argentina'', segment of ''Panamerica''
by John Martin, December 5, 1960
''NY Times'' review of ''Firebird''
by

Clive Barnes Clive Alexander Barnes (13 May 1927 – 19 November 2008) was an English writer and critic. From 1965 to 1977, he was the dance and theater critic for ''The New York Times'', and, from 1978 until his death, '' The New York Post.'' Barnes had sig ...

, March 13, 1971
''NY Times'' review of ''Firebird'' by John J. Connor, May 5, 1982
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taras, John Ballet choreographers 1919 births 2004 deaths Ballet masters Prix Benois de la Danse jurors Choreographers of New York City Ballet Ballets by John Taras American people of Russian descent Paris Opera Ballet artistic directors