Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun

Tanaquil Le Clercq was one of George Balanchine's muses and her body and style became an ideal in ballet. This excerpt from "American Masters -- Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun" shows her dancing in Balanchine's "Concerto Barocco" and includes commentary from Balanchine's assistant and New York City Ballet dancer Patricia McBride Lousada on how Le Clercq ("Tanny") became the "ideal."

Ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq contracted polio while on tour in Europe in 1956. She was hospitalized in Copenhagen, where an iron lung kept her breathing and her husband George Balanchine stayed to care for her. "American Masters -- Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun," includes archival footage showing patients in iron lung machines. It airs Friday, June 20 on PBS (check local listings).

"Afternoon of a Faun," a love pas deux choreographed by Jerome Robbins for the New York City Ballet, was made on Tanaquil Le Clercq, who premiered the work in 1953 along with partner Francisco Moncion. In this excerpt, she dances the ballet with Jacques d'Amboise, who describes dancing with her. "American Masters -- Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun" airs June 20, 2014 at 10 pm on PBS.

Watch a clip of Tanaquil Le Clercq and Jacques d’Amboise in Western Symphony, one of the last ballets Le Clercq performed in before falling ill with polio on the New York City Ballet's European tour in 1956. Jacques d'Amboise remembers his last dance with Tanny. Watch American Masters - Tanaquil Le Clercq: Afternoon of a Faun on Friday, June 20 at 10 pm on PBS.