Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq (2013)

Of all the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have been the most transcendent. With a body unlike any before hers, she mesmerized viewers and choreographers alike - her elongated, ... See full summary »

Director:

Nancy Buirski

Writer:

Nancy Buirski

Stars:

Tanaquil Le Clerq, Jacques d'Amboise, Barbara Horgan

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Tanaquil Le Clerq	...	Herself (archive footage)
Jacques d'Amboise	...	Himself
Barbara Horgan	...	Herself, George Balanchine's assistant
Randall Bourscheidt	...	Himself, Tanaquil Le Clercq's friend (as Randy Bourscheidt)
Patricia McBride	...	Herself (as Pat McBride Lousada)
George Balanchine	...	Himself (archive footage)
Larry Mackenzie	...	Himself (archive footage)
Joya Moore	...	Herself (archive footage)
Jerome Robbins	...	Himself
Arthur Mitchell	...	Himself
Allegra Kent	...	Herself (archive footage)
Suzanne Farrell	...	Herself (archive footage)
Virginia Johnson	...	Herself (archive footage)
Martha Swope	...	Herself, photographer (archive footage)
Marianne Bower	...	Tanaquil Le Clercq (voice)

Storyline

Of all the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have been the most transcendent. With a body unlike any before hers, she mesmerized viewers and choreographers alike - her elongated, race-horse physique became the new prototype for the great George Balanchine. Her unique style, humor and authenticity redefined ballet for all dancers who followed. Amazingly, she was the muse to not one great artist but two; both George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins loved her as a dancer and a woman. Balanchine married her and Robbins created his famous version of Afternoon of a Faun for Tanny. Tanaquil Le Clercq was the foremost dancer of her day until it suddenly all stopped. On a tour of Europe, she was struck down by polio and paralyzed. She never danced again.

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Plot Keywords:

polio | ballet | f rated | paralysis | epidemic | 

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Genres:

Documentary | Biography | Drama | Music

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Official Sites:

Official Facebook Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

30 September 2013 (USA)

Also Known As:

Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$488, 25 July 2014, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$172,120, 25 July 2014

Company Credits

Production Co:

Augusta Films, Steeplechase Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Color:

Color Black and White

Did You Know?

Connections

Features The Red Shoes (1948)

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Soundtracks

Arabesque #1 Piano Solo, L. 66
composed by Claude Debussy
performed by Stephen Malinowski
courtesy of Stephen Malinowski

User Reviews

Moving and informative

While part of me might have wanted more gossipy details at certain points in the film, overall this is a worthy tribute. Ms. Le Clerc was already in a wheelchair when I started going to the NYC Ballet, so I never got to see her dance. The archival videos of "Tanny" in this documentary are revelatory. And there are wonderful contributions from Jacques d'Amboise and Patricia McBride as talking heads. The film reinforces what I have felt for the past 40 years: that being alive during George Balanchine's (and Jerome Robbins's and Lincoln Kirstein's) life was akin to having Mozart across town. I had SEVEN subscriptions to NYCB in the 70's and 80's, and its repertoire and dancers have made my aesthetic what it is today.