French-trained Violette Verdy joined the ballet company New York City Ballet under choreographer George Balanchine.
Violette Verdy (born Nelly Armande Guillerm; 1 December 1933  8 February 2016) was a French ballerina, choreographer, teacher, and writer who worked as a dance company director with the Paris Opera Ballet in France and the Boston Ballet in the United States. When American Ballet Theater was temporarily disbanded in 1958, Verdy was the only member invited to join New York City Ballet. Eager to work with George Balanchine, she promptly joined the company where, with rare exceptions, she would spend the next twenty years of her performing career. 
