Balanchine's Apprentice by John Clifford

 I did begin to notice, though, that with Mr. B's ballets, the more I watched them, the more I saw in them, including the ones I didn't at first like.  I found something new in them every time, and I was never ever bored.  Robbins's steps and combinations were clever, and I enjoyed their inherent drama and theatricality, but they did not have the same depth of Balanchine's works.  I not only discovered different layers in Balanchine's ballets -- I'd find whole new ballets.                                                              -- John Clifford, Balanchine's Apprentice:  From Hollywood to New York and Back (University Press of Florida, 2021)

John Clifford was born in Los Angeles in 1947 of parents who were vaudeville performers when vaudeville was coming to an end.  He started taking ballet classes when he was eleven and was chosen to dance in The Nutcracker when Balanchine presented it in Los Angeles:  he went to New York in 1966 on a scholarship to the School of the American Ballet, Balanchine's school for NYC Ballet dancers, and Clifford danced for the company from 1966 to 1974.  He danced as a principal and soloist in forty-six different ballets and choreographed eight others for the company.  

Eventually Clifford wanted to concentrate on choreography and felt he needed to get away from Balanchine's orbit in order to choreography independently.  He returned to Los Angeles in 1974 and started a company in a city that was not that interested in ballet; his company survives as a very small company called Los Angeles Dance Theatre, subsidized by Warner Brothers, for whom Clifford choreographed Casablanca, based on the Warner Brothers movie. 

Clifford's book mostly sticks to his years with Balanchine at NYC Ballet and the works of Balanchine and Robbins.  Clifford emphasizes the ballerinas he partnered -- Kay Mazzo, Allegra Kent, Melissa Hayden and others -- but also writes about Suzanne Farrell and Gelsey Kirkland, who at the time he was there had problematic relationships with the company and with Balanchine.  Lots of detail about Balanchine's ballets and his creation of them are included, including the difficulties with Variations pour une Porte et un Soupir, which Balanchine choreographed on Clifford and Karin von Aroldingen.

Clifford seemed to aspire to run NYC Ballet after Balanchine's death in 1983 but the board decided on Peter Martins (Balanchine had never actually designated a successor).  Clifford was barred from the company by Martins and became a repetiteur of Balanchine's ballets for other companies around the world.  Clifford said working and teaching Balanchine's ballets has given him a broader view of Balanchine's genius and brought him a great deal of satisfaction.  Clifford's ballets also are performed internationally.

I saw Clifford dance many times after I started seeing NYC Ballet in 1970; he was a dynamic dancer of Balanchine's and Robbins's ballets.  One thing he does not mention in this book is the considerable work he has done tracking down tapes of Balanchine's work, including a video of Suzanne Farrell in Concerto Barocco from Canadian television, which we have been able to watch during the many months when NYC Ballet was unable to perform live because of the pandemic.