Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective

Darci Kistler

American ballerina (born 1964) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Remove ads

Darci Kistler (born June 4, 1964)[1] is an American ballerina. She is often said to be the last muse for choreographer George Balanchine.

Quick facts Born, Occupation ...
Remove ads

Early life

Kistler was born in Riverside, California, the fifth child (with four older brothers) of a medical doctor and his wife. Her brothers excelled in amateur wrestling, and she followed them into water-skiing, basketball, football and horseback riding.

Ballet career

Summarize
Perspective

At age 4, Kistler received her first tutu and began ballet training that same year. She claimed although she was always athletic, she could never keep up with her brothers—so ballet turned out to be one cornerstone she had mastered. After seeing a ballet performance of Rudolf Nureyev and Margot Fonteyn, she decided she wanted to take up ballet herself. She studied with Mary Lynn at Mary Lynn's Ballet Arts and later with Irina Kosmovska in Los Angeles.

In early 1979, Kistler was selected to study at New York City Ballet's School of American Ballet (SAB), where she met George Balanchine. She joined the New York City Ballet (NYCB) corps de ballet in 1980, and was featured in a Time article before the end of the year.[2]

Kistler was promoted to (NYCB) soloist in 1981 and principal dancer in 1982, the youngest ever at 17 years. Signature roles include Balanchine's Jewels (Diamonds), Agon, Prodigal Son and Symphony in C. She danced the rôle of the Sugarplum Fairy in City Ballet's 1993 film version of The Nutcracker. She eventually wrote her own autobiography "Ballerina: My Story" as a children's book.

Kistler joined the SAB's permanent faculty in 1994.

Throughout her career, she had numerous dance-related injuries, including a broken ankle that sidelined her for three years. She went through several surgeries, including for her back.[3]

In February 2009, Kistler announced her retirement from New York City Ballet at the end of the 2010 season.[3] Her farewell performance took place on June 27, 2010,[4] and consisted of ballets choreographed by Balanchine and Martins:

Remove ads

Personal life

Summarize
Perspective

Kistler married New York City Ballet's balletmaster-in-chief Peter Martins in 1991. In July 1992, Martins was arrested and held for five hours after Kistler phoned the police for help. Kistler filed an affidavit accusing him of assaulting her, pushing and slapping her, and cutting and bruising her arms and legs, leading to a charge of third-degree assault (a misdemeanor).[5][6] Kistler dropped the charges a few days later, saying she preferred to resolve the matter without the court's intervention.[5][7] When she next performed in a ballet two days later, she reportedly wore heavy makeup to conceal bruises she had suffered.[5] Several people who knew the two well claimed it wasn't the first time Martins had hit Kistler.[8]

Kistler and Martins have one daughter, Talicia Tove Martins, born June 13, 1996.[9]

Jerome Robbins

Ulysses Dove

  • Red Angels

Robert La Fosse

  • Danses de Cour

Peter Martins

Featured roles

George Balanchine

Jerome Robbins

Peter Martins

Remove ads

Television

Remove ads

References

Further reading

External links

Loading related searches...

Wikiwand - on

Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.

Remove ads
Remove ads