Maria Calegari (born March 30, 1957) is an American ballet dancer, teacher and
répétiteur
A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is .
Opera
In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...
. She joined 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's fir ...
in 1974 and became a principal dancer in 1983. She left the company in 1994, then occasionally performed until 2004. She also teaches ballet and began working as a répétiteur for the Balanchine Trust and Robbins Rights Trust in 1996 and 2003 respectively.
Early life and training
Calegari was born on March 30, 1957, in New York.
She was raised in
Bayside, Queens
Bayside is a neighborhood located in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fr ...
.
She received her ballet training locally before entering the
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...
in 1971, when she was 13, and was taught by
Alexandra Danilova
Aleksandra Dionisyevna Danilova (''Russian'': Александра Дионисьевна Данилова; November 20, 1903 – July 13, 1997) was a Russian-born prima ballerina, who became an American citizen. In 1989, she was recognized f ...
.
[ In 1974, at the school's annual workshop performance, she danced excerpts from Danilova's staging of Petipa's '']Paquita
''Paquita'' is a ballet in two acts and three scenes originally choreographed by Joseph Mazilier to music by Édouard Deldevez and Ludwig Minkus. Paul Foucher received royalties as librettist.
History
''Paquita'' is the creation of French c ...
''.
Career
Calegari joined 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's fir ...
in 1974.[ Within a few years, she started being cast in principal and solo roles, several by ]George Balanchine
George Balanchine (;
Various sources:
*
*
*
* born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...
, including the first movement in his ''Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3
''Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3'' is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to Tschaikovsky's Suite No. 3 for Orchestra in G major, Op. 55 (1884). The premiere took place on 3 December 1970 at th ...
'',[ and a televised performance of ''Divertimento No. 15''.][ She also started understudying roles for principal dancers.][ In 1981, she originated a role in ]Peter Martins
Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) 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 J ...
' ''Suite From Histoire du Soldat'', then was promoted to soloist that spring.[ Later that year, at the company's Tchaikovsky Festival, she originated roles for ]Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television.
Among his nu ...
and Joseph Duell, in ''Piano Pieces
''Piano Pieces'' is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The ballet was made for New York City Ballet's Tchaikovsky Festival, and premiered on June 11, 1981, at the New York State Theater.
Choreography ...
'' and ''Introduction and Fugue'' respectively. In the former, Suzanne Farrell
Suzanne Farrell (born August 16, 1945) is a former American ballerina and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
Farrell began her ballet training as a child in Cincinnati. In 1960, she received a ...
was originally cast in her role but she did not have time to rehearse due to scheduling conflict with other ballets at the festival, therefore Calegari created the role and performed it on opening night.[ Towards the end of the festival, two principal women were injured, so Calegari took over many roles danced by them, in addition to roles she was already cast in.][ On one weekend at the end of the season, she danced principal roles in every ballet performed.][ though Balanchine died the same year.][ She originated roles in Robbins' '']Glass Pieces
''Glass Pieces'' is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music by Philip Glass, costumes designed by Ben Benson, lighting designed by Ronald Bates and production designed by Robbins and Bates. The ballet was premiered on May 12, 1983, at ...
'' (1983), ''Antique Epigraphs
''Antique Epigraphs'' is a ballet made on New York City Ballet by ballet master Jerome Robbins to an orchestrated version of Debussy's ''Six épigraphes antiques'', L131, for piano, four hands, from 1914:
* “Pour invoquer Pan, dieu du vent d' ...
'' (1984), ''Eight Lines'' (1985), '' Ives, Songs'' (1988), Robbins and Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp (; born July 1, 1941) is an American dancer, choreographer, and author who lives and works in New York City. In 1965 she formed the company Twyla Tharp Dance, which merged with American Ballet Theatre in 1988. She regrouped the compa ...
's '' Brahms/Handel'' (1984) and La Fosse's ''Waltz Trilogy'' (1991).[ She danced lead roles in various Balanchine ballets, including '']Agon
() is the Greek personification for a conflict, struggle or contest, describing a concept of the same name. This could be a contest in athletics, in chariot or horse racing, or in music or literature at a public festival in ancient Greece. i ...
'', ''Serenade
In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...
'', ''Swan Lake
''Swan Lake'' ( rus, Лебеди́ное о́зеро, r=Lebedínoje ózero, p=lʲɪbʲɪˈdʲinəjə ˈozʲɪrə, links=no ), Op. 20, is a ballet composed by Russian composer Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky in 1875–76. Despite its initial failu ...
'',[ '']Chaconne
A chaconne ( , ; ; ; earlier English: chacony) is a type of musical composition often used as a vehicle for Variation (music), variation on a repeated short harmonic progression, often involving a fairly short repetitive bass-line (ground bass ...
'', ''Jewels
A gemstone (also called a fine gem, jewel, precious stone, semiprecious stone, or simply gem) is a piece of mineral crystal which, when cut or polished, is used to make jewellery, jewelry or other adornments. Certain Rock (geology), rocks (such ...
'', '' Mozartiana'', ''Union Jack
The Union Jack or Union Flag is the ''de facto'' national flag of the United Kingdom. The Union Jack was also used as the official flag of several British colonies and dominions before they adopted their own national flags.
It is sometimes a ...
'', ''Apollo
Apollo is one of the Twelve Olympians, Olympian deities in Ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek and Ancient Roman religion, Roman religion and Greek mythology, Greek and Roman mythology. Apollo has been recognized as a god of archery, mu ...
'', '' Symphony in C'', '' Liebeslieder Walzer'' '' Vienna Waltzes'', '' Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze'',[ '']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 N ...
'',[ '' Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet'', ''Variations Pour une Porte et un Soupir'', and '']A Midsummer Night's Dream
''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' is a Comedy (drama), comedy play written by William Shakespeare in about 1595 or 1596. The play is set in Athens, and consists of several subplots that revolve around the marriage of Theseus and Hippolyta. One s ...
'' as Titania.[ She also danced Robbins' '' In the Night'',][ '' Afternoon of a Faun'', '']Dances at a Gathering
''Dances at a Gathering'' is a ballet choreographed by Jerome Robbins to music by Frédéric Chopin, with costumes designed by Joe Eula. The ballet premiered on May 22, 1969, at the New York State Theater, performed by the New York City Ballet ...
''[ and '']The Cage
The Cage may refer to:
Sports
* West Fourth Street Courts, also known as "The Cage", as of 1978, a public venue for amateur basketball in New York City
* Al-Shorta Stadium, 1990–2014, former football stadium of Al-Shorta SC, nicknamed "The Cag ...
'', as well as Helgi Tómasson's ''Menuetto''.Suzanne Farrell Ballet
The Suzanne Farrell Ballet is a ballet company housed at the Kennedy Center, Washington, D.C., and founded in 2000 by Suzanne Farrell, one of George Balanchine's most celebrated ballerinas, and a former New York City Ballet principal dancer. Unt ...
, until 2004.[ She also began teaching ballet, including at her Connecticut-based school between 2002 and 2004.][ She began staging works on behalf of the Balanchine Trust and Robbins Rights Trust in 1996 and 2003 respectively,][ including for ]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 ...
, American 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. Through 2019, it had an annual eight-week season at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center) in the spr ...
, 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 Boston Ballet
The Boston Ballet is an American professional classical ballet company based in Boston, Massachusetts. It was founded in 1963 by E. Virginia Williams and Sydney Leonard, and was the first professional repertory ballet company in New England. ...
. In 2010, she and Bart Cook opened CaleCo Ballet Studio in North Salem, New York
North Salem is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in the northeastern section of Westchester County, New York, Westchester County, New York (state), New York, United States. The town, incorporated in 1788, is a suburb of New York ...
. In 2011, she was among 30 ballerinas awarded the Jerome Robbins Award.
Personal life
Calegari is married to Bart Cook, also a New York City Ballet principal dancer.[
]
Explanatory notes
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Calegari, Maria
1957 births
20th-century American ballet dancers
21st-century American ballet dancers
Balanchine Trust repetiteurs
American ballet teachers
Dancers from New York (state)
Entertainers from New York City
Living people
New York City Ballet principal dancers
People from Bayside, Queens
American prima ballerinas
School of American Ballet alumni