Ballet dancer Todd Bolender, moved to New York City to study theatrical dance about the same time soon-to-be-famous George Balanchine arrived in the United States.
Balanchine supervised Todd at the fledgling School of American Ballet.
Todd danced from 1936 to 1972, an unusually-long period, and went on to choreograph dozens of ballets.
He also choreographed for musical theater, opera, and television. He choreographed the opera Samson and Delilah, for which the dancing received a better review than the singing.
In 1981, he was granted the Dance Magazine Award for his lifetime achievement in dance.
To make this photograph, I visited Todd at his residence. As I loaded film into my camera, he reminisced about his long career.
The Todd Bolender Center for Dance and Creativity opened in 2011, and is home for Kansas City Ballet.
Photograph © Larry F. Levenson.
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