Melissa Hayden (born Mildred Herman, April 25, 1923,

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

; died August 9, 2006,

Winston-Salem, North Carolina Winston-Salem is a city in Forsyth County, North Carolina, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 249,545, making it the List of municipalities in North Carolina, fifth-most populous ...

) was a Canadian

ballerina A ballet dancer is a person who practices the art of classical ballet. Both females and males can practice ballet. They rely on years of extensive training and proper technique to become a part of a professional ballet company. Ballet 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's fir ...

Early life

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 called ''Millie'' at home, a nickname she kept for the rest of her life.

Career

In the early 1940s, she moved to New York City to join the ballet corps at

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

. From 1945 to 1947, she was a member of the

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 ...

; she joined the

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.

Film and television

Hayden appeared frequently on television, especially '' The Kate Smith Show'' and ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in September 1971 by the ''CB ...

''. In 1952 she performed as the dance double for

Claire Bloom Patricia Claire Bloom (born 15 February 1931) is an English actress. She is known for leading roles on stage and screen and has received two BAFTA Awards and a Drama Desk Award as well as nominations for a Primetime Emmy Award, a Grammy Award an ...

in the film ''

Limelight Limelight (also known as Drummond light or calcium light)James R. Smith (2004). ''San Francisco's Lost Landmarks'', Quill Driver Books. is a non-electric type of stage lighting that was once used in theatres and music halls. An intense illum ...

''. In 1965, she was seen on American television as the Sugar Plum Fairy in a one-hour German-American adaptation of ''

The Nutcracker ''The Nutcracker'' (, ), Opus number, Op. 71, is an 1892 two-act classical ballet (conceived as a '; ) by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, set on Christmas Eve at the foot of a Christmas tree in a child's imagination featuring a Nutcracker doll. Th ...

''. Filmed in 1964 and first shown in the United States by

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS (an abbreviation of its original name, Columbia Broadcasting System), is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainme ...

just four days before Christmas 1965, the production, with a heavily altered storyline, featured an international cast of dancers and English narration by

Eddie Albert Edward Albert Heimberger (April 22, 1906 – May 26, 2005) was an American actor. He is known for his roles on stage and screen and received nominations for two Academy Awards, a BAFTA Award, and two Golden Globe Awards. Albert made his actin ...

Edward Villella Edward Villella (born October 1, 1936) is an American ballet dancer and choreographer. He is frequently cited as America's most celebrated male dancer of ballet at the time. He has won numerous awards, including the Daytime Emmy Award for Out ...

and Patricia McBride also starred.

Retirement

After appearing in over 60 ballets, mainly works 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 ...

, 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,

Mayor In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a Municipal corporation, municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilitie ...

John Lindsay John Vliet Lindsay (; November 24, 1921 – December 19, 2000) was an American politician and lawyer. During his political career, Lindsay was a U.S. congressman, the mayor of New York City, and a candidate for U.S. president. He was also a regu ...

presented Hayden with the city's

Handel Medallion The Handel Medallion is an American award presented by the Government of New York City, City of New York. It is the city's highest award given to individuals for their contribution to the city's intellectual and cultural life. Establishment Th ...

, praising her as an "extraordinary ballerina who has filled the hearts of her audience with joy". After her retirement, she became head of the ballet department at

Skidmore College Skidmore College is a Private school, private liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Saratoga Springs, New York. Approximately 2,700 students are enrolled at Skidmore pursuing a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Scien ...

, 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 the North 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 including '' Concerto Barocco'', and the masterful ''Theme & Variations''.

Marriage and children

Hayden married lawyer-businessman Donald Coleman. The couple had two children.Rose Anne Thom
''Jewish Women Archive''
/ref> Hayden died at her home in Winston-Salem of

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of ...

, aged 83.

Published works

Hayden was also an author of several books: * Melissa Hayden, Offstage and On (1963) * Ballet Exercises for Figure, Grace & Beauty (1969) * Dancer to Dancer: Advice for Today's Dancer (1981) * The Nutcracker Ballet, illustrated by Stephen Johnson (1992)

References

Bibliography

* Gustaitis, Rasa: Melissa Hayden Ballerina. Nelson. 1967. {{DEFAULTSORT:Hayden, Melissa 1923 births 2006 deaths Canadian expatriates in the United States Canadian people of Russian-Jewish descent 20th-century Canadian Jews Jewish dancers Canadian ballerinas Canadian female dancers Deaths from pancreatic cancer in North Carolina New York City Ballet principal dancers Dancers from Toronto