97 replies to this topic

[Tanny]

Hi, my name is Tanaquil Elizabeth and I was named after Tanaquil Elizabeth Le Clercq.  She was my second cousin on my mother's side.  I would love to hear more about my second cousin and I have been research on her.  She was paralyzed by strictly polio in 1956 I believe. I know she was married to George Balachine, choregrapher of New York City Ballet on New Year's Eve.  I was told she passed away on New Year's Eve 2000.  She gave me a book long time ago when I was a kid but I never get to meet her in person. And I still have it,  her book will pass along to my granddaughter when she get older.  If you happens to know about my cousin, please let me know.

Thank you,
Tanny

[carbro]

Welcome to BalletTalk, Tanny.

You can use the board's search feature to find posts on various BalletTalk threads.  Some are here.

Another search, where I deliberately misspelled her name "Leclerq," yielded 182 hits, here.

I imagine much of this is not new to you.  I hope you will feel free to correct any errors you find.

YouTube has a single clip of her dancing.  She is shown with Jacques d'Amboise in the role she created in Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun.  Here.

I don't know anyone who isn't deeply moved by her tragic illness.

She was also a crossword puzzle constructor for The New York Times, and I particularly remember one of her puzzles which used a symbol instead of letters in the solution.  Very creative!

[32tendu]

Tanny,

I think she was beautiful and her role in the art of ballet is significant.
Tragic, too. The photos of her prior to her illness are stunning.

[Tanny]

32tendu, on Jan 30 2009, 01:40 PM, said:

Tanny,

I think she was beautiful and her role in the art of ballet is significant.
Tragic, too. The photos of her prior to her illness are stunning.

Hi, I like to know, have you met her in person?

[32tendu]

Sadly, no. Only in photographs.

[Tanny]

carbro, on Jan 30 2009, 12:21 PM, said:

Welcome to BalletTalk, Tanny.

You can use the board's search feature to find posts on various BalletTalk threads.  Some are here.

Another search, where I deliberately misspelled her name "Leclerq," yielded 182 hits, here.

I imagine much of this is not new to you.  I hope you will feel free to correct any errors you find.

YouTube has a single clip of her dancing.  She is shown with Jacques d'Amboise in the role she created in Jerome Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun.  Here.

I don't know anyone who isn't deeply moved by her tragic illness.

She was also a crossword puzzle constructor for The New York Times, and I particularly remember one of her puzzles which used a symbol instead of letters in the solution.  Very creative!

Thank you so much for giving me all the information on my beautiful second cousin, Tanaquil Le Clercq.  I wish I have her photos, all I got was a book called "Mourka" with George Balachine in it.  I didn't know she does crossword puzzle constructor for the New York Times, do you have it?  I would like to have a copy of it.  I really like to get some more information from people who knew Tanaquil very well.  Please do write me.  Thank you so much.  Your best regards, Tanaquil.

[Tanny]

32tendu, on Jan 30 2009, 10:43 PM, said:

Sadly, no. Only in photographs.

So, you have photographs of her, can I have copies?

[bart]

Tanny, if you look up Le Clercq on Google/Images, you'll find quite a few wonderful photos.

Similarly, a Google text search of her name should turn up a surprising amount of material and leads to other sources.  Skhe is referred to constantly in material about Balanchine, the New York City Ballet in her day, and memoirs of the period.

You can also try Ballet Talk's "Search" option.  There's a button at the top of this page.  Click it.  Then click "More Search Options," which will take to another page.  The choice "All Forums" should be highlighted.  Type in "clercq" and see what turns up.  I found four long pages of posts going back to 2001.

Good luck in your searching.

[perky]

Hi Tanny! My husband recently purchased for me Tanaquil Le Clercq's The Ballet Cook Book. This book is long out of print and was on my "wished for but highly unlikely" acquire list. He found it Amazon.com for $25. The book was owned by a public library.
If you get a chance I highly recommend this book! Besides the many interesting recipes from various ballet stars is Tanny's
witty, sparkling writing inbetween. She also includes several photos of herself as a young child.

[sz]

I spoke with Tanny at NYCB many times, also during performances at the Met when the Kirov visited.  My best friend  got Tanny (and her friend) tickets to see The Lion King, a b'way show she said she wanted very much to see.  Heard that she loved it.

At NYCB this season, there is a most beautiful picture of Tanny in Nutcracker, the Dewdrop role.  I saw it while I was at the theater last night.  She certainly was gorgeous and very photogenic.

[carbro]

Tanny, on Jan 30 2009, 10:43 PM, said:

I didn't know she does crossword puzzle constructor for the New York Times, do you have it?

No.  It was from the 1970s or '80s.  I ran a search on Amazon.com (results here) and within them was one of Le Clercq's puzzles, here.  If you sign in, you can go to the puzzle on pg. 62.

While I am here, let me add that this board has a strict policy forbidding trading of videos.  While trading photos is not explicitly banned, if they are items of value, the same principle would apply.  I can only second bart's suggestion that you run an image search on your cousin's name.

[canbelto]

A good place to start in your search about your cousin is to read the new biography of Jerome Robbins, "Somewhere." Robbins and LeClercq had a long relationship and their correspondence is maybe the best thing about "Somewhere." LeClercq comes across as sharp-tongued, witty, a very strong personality.

[Tanny]

bart, on Jan 31 2009, 08:11 AM, said:

Tanny, if you look up Le Clercq on Google/Images, you'll find quite a few wonderful photos.

Similarly, a Google text search of her name should turn up a surprising amount of material and leads to other sources.  Skhe is referred to constantly in material about Balanchine, the New York City Ballet in her day, and memoirs of the period.

You can also try Ballet Talk's "Search" option.  There's a button at the top of this page.  Click it.  Then click "More Search Options," which will take to another page.  The choice "All Forums" should be highlighted.  Type in "clercq" and see what turns up.  I found four long pages of posts going back to 2001.

Good luck in your searching.

Thank you Bart.

[Tanny]

perky, on Jan 31 2009, 09:05 AM, said:

Hi Tanny! My husband recently purchased for me Tanaquil Le Clercq's The Ballet Cook Book. This book is long out of print and was on my "wished for but highly unlikely" acquire list. He found it Amazon.com for $25. The book was owned by a public library.
If you get a chance I highly recommend this book! Besides the many interesting recipes from various ballet stars is Tanny's
witty, sparkling writing inbetween. She also includes several photos of herself as a young child.

Hi, I am glad your husband got your wish for Tanaquil's cook book.  I knew she wrote cookbook but I'm glad you mentioned the title.  I want to thank you very much and I will look for it, again "Thank you".   Tanaquil

[Tanny]

canbelto, on Feb 1 2009, 01:13 PM, said:

A good place to start in your search about your cousin is to read the new biography of Jerome Robbins, "Somewhere." Robbins and LeClercq had a long relationship and their correspondence is maybe the best thing about "Somewhere." LeClercq comes across as sharp-tongued, witty, a very strong personality.

Wow, I will look for the new biography of Jerome Robbins, "Somewhere".  Thank you so much, Canbelto.  Tanaquil