Nancy Lassalle, Longtime Promoter of Ballet, Dies at 93
In 1941 she studied at George Balanchine’s fledgling dance academy. She was not destined to be a ballerina, but she dedicated her life to Balanchine’s legacy.
Nancy Lassalle in 2007 at a benefit for the School of American Ballet in Manhattan. She was a founding member of the boards of both the school and New York City Ballet.Credit.Neil Rasmus/Patrick McMullan, via Getty Images
Published May 4, 2021Updated May 11, 2021
As a teenager, Nancy Lassalle attended the fledgling ballet academy started by the choreographer George Balanchine that is now the School of American Ballet. She was not destined to be a ballerina she was too tall and too gawky, her daughter Honor Lassalle said but she was passionate about dance, and about the mission articulated by Balanchine and his collaborator, Lincoln Kirstein, when they founded New York City Ballet in the late 1940s.