Vera Zorina

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Vera Zorina (born Eva Brigitta Hartwig on January 2, 1917 in Berlin, Germany) was a ballet dancer and choreographer in Europe and the United States.

She died on April 9, 2003 in Santa Fe, New Mexico of natural causes at the age of 86.

She was George Balanchine's second wife; they were married from 1938 to 1946. She danced in productions he choreographed, both on the stage and screen, such as On Your Toes, the Broadway hit which was later adapted for the screen by the "hot" playwright of the day, Lawrence Riley, and others. She was also married to Goddard Lieberson from 1946 until his death on May 29, 1977, by whom she had two sons: Peter Lieberson, a composer, and Jonathan Lieberson. Her final marriage was to Paul Wolfe from 1991 until her death on April 9, 2003.

According to an article in a 1939 news magazine, she crossed the Atlantic to the U.S. taking a whole luxury upper deck section of the ocean liner. Some reporting centred around scandalous nude sunbathing on the crossing.

Apart from dance and Broadway, Vera Zorina was particularly associated with performances of Arthur Honegger's "Joan of Arc at the Stake", playing the dramatic speaking part of Joan in the first American performance with the New York Philharmonic under Charles Munch on 1 January 1948. She subsequently took the role many times but notably in the recorded performance from the UK Royal Festival Hall in June 1966 with the London Symphony Orchestra under Seiji Ozawa