Tanaquil LeClerq
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Tanaquil LeClerq was born in Paris, France on 2 October 1929.
She was the principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, but her dancing career was ended when she was stricken with polio and paralyzed from the waist down. During her tenure with the company, George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins and Merce Cunningham all created roles for her. She began teaching and as one student recalled: "She used her hands and arms as legs and feet".
She was the fourth and last wife of George Balanchine, but not his last muse. Balanchine obtained a quick divorce from her to woo Suzanne Farrell, who in the same week married a fellow NYCB dancer.
LeClerq died in 2000 in New York City.
