Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish former
ballet dancer
A ballet dancer is a person who practices the Art (skill), 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. B ...
and
choreographer. Martins was a
principal dancer with the
Royal Danish Ballet and with 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 ...
, where he joined
George Balanchine,
Jerome Robbins, and
John Taras as
balletmaster in 1981. He retired from dancing in 1983, having achieved the rank of
danseur noble, becoming Co-Ballet Master-In-Chief with Robbins. From 1990 until January 2018, he was responsible for artistic leadership of City Ballet.
Early life
Martins was born and raised in
Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...
, Denmark.
[Mary Ellen Snodgrass (2015)]
''The Encyclopedia of World Ballet,''
Rowman & Littlefield. His parents were Børge Martins, an engineer, and Tove Christa Ornberg, a pianist.
His maternal aunt and uncle, Leif and
Elna Ornberg, members of the Royal Danish Ballet, started teaching him ballroom combinations when he was five years of age; when he applied to ballet school, however, he was the subject of discrimination because his aunt and uncle had been
Nazi sympathizers.
It was his older sisters who originally tried out for the Royal Ballet of Denmark at the age of seven. When they did, he was sitting in the waiting room reading a ''Donald Duck'' comic book. They were denied admittance. Then Peter was asked to "point his foot". He did especially well and was admitted.
Career
Martins began his ballet training in 1953 with the
Royal Danish Ballet. He joined the
corps de ballet in 1965 and was promoted to
soloist in 1967.
Martins left Denmark in 1970 and became a
principal dancer with the New York City Ballet (NYCB), though he had been performing as a guest artist since 1967.
Martins danced a wide variety of roles, but is most known for the titular role in ''
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 ...
'' and the Cavalier in Balanchine's ''
Nutcracker''. In 1978, he was made the subject of the documentary, ''Peter Martins: A Dancer.'' He danced frequently with
Suzanne Farrell. However, he terminated her employment with the NYCB in 1993; she went on to found her own company, which disbanded in 2017.
Martins retired from dancing in 1983, becoming Co-Ballet Master-In-Chief alongside Jerome Robbins, and assumed the job of sole Balletmaster-in-Chief in 1990. Martins was Balanchine's personal choice of successor. However, early in his career as a balletmaster, Martins faced criticism for perceived deviations from Balanchine's style. Martins also served as the artistic director and chairman of faculty of the
School of American Ballet, the training division of the NYCB and the venue through which it receives most of its dancers.
From 1990 until January 2018, he was solely responsible for artistic leadership of City Ballet.
In 2005 his salary was $619,000, and in 2008 he received $699,000 in pay and benefits.
Martins regularly choreographed new works for both companies. His first piece was ''
Calcium Light Night'', set to music by
Charles Ives
Charles Edward Ives (; October 20, 1874May 19, 1954) was an American modernist composer, actuary and businessman. Ives was among the earliest renowned American composers to achieve recognition on a global scale. His music was largely ignored d ...
, which premiered in 1977 and received positive reviews. His more recent pieces include ''
Octet'', ''
Friandises'',
Stabat Mater and the full-length ballets ''
The Sleeping Beauty'', ''
Swan Lake'', and
''Romeo ''+'' Juliet''.
He also choreographed the Barbie movies ''
Barbie in the Nutcracker'' and ''
Barbie of Swan Lake''. In 2000, Martins, along with talent scout
Irene Diamond, founded the New York Choreographic Institute.
Allegations of sexual assault
In December 2017, an investigation was announced by New York City Ballet into accusations by dancers within the company of
physical and
sexual assault
Sexual assault is an act of sexual abuse in which one intentionally Physical intimacy, sexually touches another person without that person's consent, or Coercion, coerces or physically forces a person to engage in a sexual act against their w ...
by Martins, and using his power to obtain sexual favors, dating back to 1983.
One of his accusers,
Wilhelmina Frankfurt, a former New York City Ballet ballerina and later a dance educator, said: "Am I a victim of Martins abuse? Yes. Was it sexual? Yes. Was it consensual? No
..It was scary. One incident that occurred
..He
..pulled me into his dressing room and, exposed himself to me.
nd one incident isso big I don’t think I can talk about it."
Martins took a leave of absence that month from both the New York City Ballet and its School of the American Ballet, after the allegations came to light, and in January 2018 he retired. Martins denied any misconduct. A two-month investigation of the New York City Ballet and its School of the American Ballet "did not corroborate the allegations of harassment or violence both made in the anonymous letter and reported in the media regarding Mr. Martins".
[Robin Pogrebin]
Abuse Accusations Against Peter Martins Are Not Corroborated, Inquiry Says
''New York Times'' (February 15, 2018). This was not a criminal investigation and was conducted by NYCB, Inc.'s own attorneys.
Awards, collaborations, and written work
He received a Dance Magazine Award and Cue's Golden Apple Award in 1977. An Award for Arts and Culture, City of New York, 1981. The title of Knight of the
Order of the Dannebrog
The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...
in 1983. 1984 Nominee Primetime Emmy
Outstanding Achievement in Choreography for "Great Performances: Dance in America" For episode "Choreographer's Notebook: Stravinsky Piano Ballets by Peter Martins". An award of Merit, Philadelphia Art Alliance, 1985. And a Liberty Award, 1986. He was nominated for the 1986
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Broadway Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes excellence in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ce ...
for Best Choreographer for ''
Song & Dance''. Martins is a champion of contemporary music, working often with composer
John Adams
John Adams (October 30, 1735 – July 4, 1826) was a Founding Fathers of the United States, Founding Father and the second president of the United States from 1797 to 1801. Before Presidency of John Adams, his presidency, he was a leader of ...
. His autobiography, ''Far From Denmark'' was published in 1982. Martins was named Man of the Year by the Danish American Society, 1980. His exercise regimen, titled ''NYCB Workout'' and designed with the
New York Sports Club, first appeared in book form in 1997, with a DVD and a sequel produced later. Martins was inducted into the
National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame in 2008.
Personal life
Martins had a long-term romantic relationship with
Heather Watts during her career as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet.
[Five dancers accuse city ballet’s peter martins of physical abuse :: WRAL.com]
/ref> In 2017, Martins was accused of picking up Watts and slamming her into a cement wall. In ballerina Gelsey Kirkland's book ''Dancing on My Grave'' (1986), she describes Martins dragging Watts up and down a flight of stairs.
He was married to Lise la Cour, a ballerina he danced with at the Royal Ballet of Denmark. He had a child with her, Nilas. They met while they were both with the Royal Danish Ballet
and after their divorce, he was a guest-artist with the New York City Ballet and eventually moved to America to dance with the latter company full-time. Nilas eventually followed his father to America, to New York City and to the New York City Ballet.
In July 1992, Martins was arrested and held for five hours after his 28-year-old wife of seven months, New York City Ballet principal ballerina Darci Kistler, phoned the police for help. His wife filed an affidavit accusing him of assaulting her, pushing and slapping her, and cutting and bruising her arms and legs and continuing to hit her after she fell under his attack.[Ballet chief Peter Martins under investigation after sexual harassment allegations - The Washington Post]
/ref>[ He was charged with third-degree ]assault
In the terminology of law, an assault is the act of causing physical harm or consent, unwanted physical contact to another person, or, in some legal definitions, the threat or attempt to do so. It is both a crime and a tort and, therefore, may ...
(a misdemeanor).["Ballerina drops assault charges against husband,"]
UPI, July 22, 1992. Kistler dropped the charges a few days later, saying she preferred to resolve the matter without the court's intervention. When she next performed in a ballet two days later, she reportedly wore heavy makeup to conceal bruises she had suffered. Several people who knew the two well claimed it wasn't the first time Martins had hit her. Peter Wolff, a member of the school’s board of directors, said that the assault charge was "a personal matter", would not affect Martins’ career, and that it had "nothing to do with his competency or his support in the ballet community."
In 2011, Martins was charged with DWI in Yonkers
Yonkers () is the List of municipalities in New York, third-most populous city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York and the most-populous City (New York), city in Westchester County, New York, Westchester County. A centrally locate ...
.[Irvington's Peter Martins faces drunken driving charge in Ardsley]
/ref> He pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of driving while impaired. In December 2017, Martins was arrested after a three-car crash and charged with drunk driving, refusal to take a breath test, and backing unsafely. He pleaded not guilty in Ardsley Village Court, and his license was suspended.
Kistler and Martins have one daughter, Talicia Tove Martins, born June 13, 1996. He has a son, Nilas Martins, who also was a member of NYCB before himself retiring.
References
External links
Official NYCB bio page
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Martins, Peter
1946 births
Living people
Ballet choreographers
Ballet masters
Ballets by Peter Martins
Choreographers of New York City Ballet
Danish choreographers
Danish emigrants to the United States
Danish male ballet dancers
20th-century Danish ballet dancers
Danish male dancers
Musical theatre choreographers
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet Diamond Project choreographers
New York City Ballet principal dancers
School of American Ballet faculty