The
seven-acre parcel of land at 10 Ridge Road was the summer home
of choreographer, George Balanchine (1904 - 1983) and his fourth
wife, the legendary ballerina Tanaquil LeClercq (1929 - 2000).
George Balanchine was the co-founder of the New York City Ballet
and remained its director until his death in 1983. He is widely
acknowledged to have been the greatest choreographer of the
Twentieth Century. His groundbreaking works are still performed
regularly by the New York City Ballet, and by ballet companies
around the world.
Balanchine discovered
the French born Tanaquil LeClercq as a gifted young student
at his School of American Ballet. She went on to become a principal
dancer with the New York City Ballet and one of the greatest
dancers of her generation. LeClercq performed in the premiers
of more than twenty Balanchine ballets, including "The
Four Temperaments," "Orpheus," "Symphony
in C," to name only a few. Balanchine created many of these
masterpieces especially to showcase her talents.
Tanaquil LeClercq at City Center in 1952
Balanchine (left) and LeClercq (center)
entertaining Friends in Weston circa 1960
Balanchine and LeClercq married on New Years Eve, 1952. Not
long afterwards, they built a home on the property Balanchine
had bought on Ridge Road. They spent most of their summers
there for the next sixteen years. Balanchine enjoyed building
things with his own hands and made a number of the improvements
on the property himself.
The New York Times columnist,
Anthony Lewis put Balanchine and LeClercq in historical perspective
in a July, 2000 Op-ed piece entitled Homage to George Balanchine.
In it, Lewis asserts that George Balanchine was "The Mozart
of 20th-century choreography." Recalling a lifetime of
attending ballet performances, Lewis continued, "The figures
who linger in my memory include Maria Tallchief and Tanaquil
LeClercq in the early years of the New York City Ballet, and
Margot Fonteyn, Rudolf Nureyev, Natalia Makarova, Mikhail Baryshnikov."
Tragically, during the New
York Citys Ballet's European tour in 1956, and at the height
of her fame, Tanaqil LeClercq was stricken with polio, cutting
short her brilliant career. The disease left her paralyzed
from the waist down and confined to a wheelchair for the remainder
of her life.
The couple divorced in 1969. Afterwards,
LeClercq continued to spend her summers in Weston, where she
enjoyed watching the abundant wildlife outside her window,
entertaining friends, and writing. She published two books
and created crossword puzzles that were published in the New
York Times. She died in New York City on New Years Eve, 2000.
Tanaquil LeClercq photographed in 1947 by
Irving Penn
