I'm mad about Merrill Ashley!

[SOUSA KID]

I was watching an old ''Dance in America'' of Merrill Ashley and I really want to write a very long, heartfelt fan letter to her. She's my favorite ballerina...............What should I do? Billy

[Leigh Witchel]

I think if you write her care of New York City Ballet, she should receive the correspondence.

I met Ashley completely by accident on my 23rd birthday (oh my, this will be exactly two decades ago come the next one.) She was walking up Broadway near where I took ballet. Now being a New Yorker, I usually was blase about meeting well-known people, but somehow combined with my birthday and that she was my favorite ballerina (the avatar of the Good Student that I wanted so desperately to be) my facade crumbled.

"Excuse me are you Merrill Ashley"

She stopped walking and replied cautiously in the affirmative.

It all came out in one nauseating gush. You'remyfavoriteballerinaI'velovedyouallmylife. She thanked me and looked a little queasy. I slunk away, embarrassed.

[papeetepatrick]

Now being a New Yorker, I usually was blase about meeting well-known people, but somehow combined with my birthday and that she was my favorite ballerina (the avatar of the Good Student that I wanted so desperately to be) my facade crumbled.

"Excuse me are you Merrill Ashley"

She stopped walking and replied cautiously in the affirmative.

It all came out in one nauseating gush. You'remyfavoriteballerinaI'velovedyouallmylife. She thanked me and looked a little queasy. I slunk away, embarrassed.

I was lucky in this regard as a Juilliard student, because the NYCB people do a lot of rehearsing in the Juilliard 3rd floor studios as well as at the State Theater. I remember seeing Ms. Ashley several times, once in the elevator, when a friend of hers said to her, after an apparent absence due to an injury (c. 1979-80-or-81), 'Hi Merrill, I hear you're dancing again.' In my first period in the early 70's there, there were Suzanne Farrell and Paul Mejia in the elevator, just prior to departure. Again in the 2nd period, there were Patricia McBride leaving what were then the front doors on 66th Street, Baryshnikov coming up to these same doors from Broadway at the end of his year with NYCB, Peter Martins with Heather Watts across the street, probably where the Chinese mission was (and maybe is.) Most remarkable was Rudolph Nureyev, who also got off at the 3rd floor, but I have no idea what he was doing there in 1981, after having stood exactly in the middle of the car in a full-length leather coat with an amused look. I may have seen Balanchine, but I never knew it if I did. .

I never spoke to any of these people (except Mejia, for whom I'd played a class or two; one of my colleagues had to tell me who his dazzling companion was). My bursting-outs don't happen except with faces I've seen so often on TV that I think it's the same when I see them--like that Channel 13 girl who used to be so good at babbling out the pledge speeches, Donna Drewes. TV talking heads I'll just start talking to, because they don't seem extraordinary in the same way.

[Helene]

My favorite memory of Ashley was in an official Q&A that took place on stage of the NYST in front of the curtain, in which her husband, who was a simultaneous translator for the UN, served as moderator. He was responsible for repeating the questions so that the entire audience could hear, and he did, but only after he had turned rambling and gushes into succinct, coherent questions that captured all of the questioners' points.

[carbro]

Again in the 2nd period, there were Patricia McBride leaving what were then the front doors on 66th Street, Baryshnikov coming up to these same doors from Broadway at the end of his year with NYCB, Peter Martins with Heather Watts across the street, probably where the Chinese mission was (and maybe is.)

Nope. Chinese Mission moved to the East 30s in order for Millennium Partners to build the Phillips Club (a sort of business time share, as I understand it) on the site. Balducci's grocery store is on the ground floor. I heartily recommend their chili (turkey or beef) on a cold, winter day.

[Farrell Fan]

Merrill Ashley once held the door open for me at the Lincoln Center library. We New Yorkers lead such glamorous lives.

[papeetepatrick]

SOUSA KID--you should try to get hold of '6 Balanchine Ballerinas' tape or DVD, where you can hear and see a lot of Ms. Ashley who, by then, had retired (I think, correct me if wrong, that she had--this was from 1989.) This has Mary Ellen Moylan, Maria Tallchief, Melissa Hayden, Allegra Kent, and Darci Kistler as well--who is the only one still dancing. As well as lots of clips of Balanchine. I thought this documentary was wonderful, and Ms. Ashley is thoroughly lovely in it. I'm not sure, but it might be the only one where she talks a good bit about Balanchine and the rest of the NYCB experience.

[Farrell Fan]

I agree about the Six Balanchine Ballerinas film by Anne Belle -- it's wonderful, and Merrill is one of the wonderful things abouts it. The end is particularly touching, as she tearfully tries to come to terms with her part in the mystery that was Balanchine. I would also recommend Merrill's book, "Dancing for Balanchine" (1984), which is part memoir, part coffee-table book, and part instructional photo-manual.

[SOUSA KID]

Thank's much to eveyone! I own ''Six Ballerinas'' and I also knew Mary Ann Moylan personally(I sang a Beatle ballad at her son's wedding years ago) Merrill Ashley just has that all American punch that knocks me out! And I love Big, Tall ballerinas. And that gorgeous smile with a hint of the devil in her eyes.......Oh yes indeed..........Shes my favorite ballerina forever. Billy

[Balanchinomane]

Merrill Ashley once held the door open for me at the Lincoln Center library. We New Yorkers lead such glamorous lives.

Farrell Fan, I wish you would write a book!!!

[Helene]

Thank's much to eveyone! I own ''Six Ballerinas'' and I also knew Mary Ann Moylan personally(I sang a Beatle ballad at her son's wedding years ago)

You must have been a very young boy at that time