After 80 years on stage his presence was such that all he had to do was raise his arm and they would applaud. Of course he did more. He personified dance and much of 20th century dance history. Agnes de Mille called him the “inner motor of the Ballet Russe”. A pioneer of dance in America he danced, directed, staged, choreographed, performed and taught with amazing enthusiasm and generosity. He loved his art and lived for it. That love was returned and his memory lives. Here he is in ABT’s Romeo and Juliet, about to raise his arm.

Bill Ausman