Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq

Among the pantheon of great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have stood as the most transcendent, her body unlike any that came before hers, mesmerizing audiences and choreographers alike. With a lean, race-horse physique, she became the new template for George Balanchine. Owing to her extraordinary movement and distinctive onstage persona, she grew into a muse for two of the field's greatest choreographers, George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. She ultimately married Balanchine, and Robbins choreographed his famed version of Afternoon of a Faun for her. She enjoyed love, fame, adoration, and was the premier dancer of her era until it all abruptly halted. At the age of 27, polio struck and left her paralyzed. She never danced again. The ballet world has been haunted by her story ever since.