Tutu worn by Alexandra Danilova (1903–1997)

Alexandra Danilova’s career as a ballerina extended from her student years at the Mariinsky Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, to her character roles for American Ballet Theatre in the final decades of her life. Famed for her glamorous persona onstage and off, she lived the role of the ballerina at all times. A former member of the Ballets Russes under Diaghilev and a star of the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo, Danilova had been a partner of Balanchine’s and a co-choreographer on several of his classical adaptations. This was due in large part to her extraordinary capacity for remembering choreography. This costume featured here was one of two that Danilova used while touring with her dancing partner of many years, Frederic Franklin. The tutu was originally created for Danilova’s infamous “red swan”; she chose this tutu over the traditional black costume when she danced the role of Odile in Swan Lake.