The Cage: Dancing for Jerome Robbins and George Balanchine, 1949-1954
Barbara Bocher, born in Oklahoma in 1935, joined the New York City Ballet in 1949 at the age of 14. The youngest dancer in the company, she appeared under the baton of Igor Stravinsky, Aaron Copeland, and Sir Benjamin Britten. In the course of her shooting star career, she worked with choreographers George Balanchine, Sir Frederic Ashton and Jerome Robbins in whose ballet, Pied Piper, she danced to the clarinet of Benny Goodman. Still in her middle teens, she graced the stages of such major venues as the Royal Opera House in London, the Paris Opera House, La Scala Opera House, Milan and the Trieste Opera House where she was partnered by premier danseur Andre Eglevsky.  Barbara Bocher, today a great-grandmother, lives by the sea in Santa Barbara, California. Adam Darius, born in New York City in 1930, has appeared as a dancer and mime artist in over 85 countries. From the Himalayas in Nepal to Sugar Loaf Mountain in Brazil and from Surabaya in Java to the island of Madagascar, he continues to influence the generations with his own approach to physical theater and expressive mime. As a choreographer, his most acclaimed work was The Anne Frank Ballet, the Italian Television and British productions now seen on YouTube. Additionally, Adam Darius is the dance world's most prolific author, having written a score of plays and 15 published books on a diversity of subjects. Among the many honors accorded him have been, on two occasions, the Noor Al-Hussein Award in Jordan and twice, awards from the government of Venezuela.  Adam Darius lives on a hill in Espoo, Finland.