{{short description|American ballet dancer}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2021}} {{Infobox dancer | name = Kyra Nichols | image = | alt = | caption = | birth_name = | birth_date = {{birth date and age|1958|07|02|mf=y}} | birth_place = Berkeley, California, U.S. | nationality = | citizenship = | education = School of American Ballet | occupation = {{flatlist| *ballet dancer *teacher}} | years_active = | height = | spouse = David Gray | partner = | children = 2 | website = <!-- {{URL|website}} --> | current_group = | former_groups = New York City Ballet | dances = | module = }} '''Kyra Nichols''' (born July 2, 1958) is an American retired ballet dancer and teacher. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1974 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1979. She is one of the last dancers to have worked with George Balanchine, although he did not create any new work on her. However, she originated roles in several ballets by Jerome Robbins. Nichols retired from performing in 2007, after a 33-year career.
Nichols joined the Pennsylvania Ballet as a ballet mistress in the 2014–15 season. In 2017, she left to serve as Violette Verdy and Kathy Ziliak Anderson Chair in Ballet and professor of music in ballet at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
==Early life and training== Kyra Nichols was born on July 2, 1958, in Berkeley, California.<ref name=Oxford>{{cite web|url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100233450|title=Kyra Nichols - Oxford Reference|website=Oxford Reference|accessdate=January 2, 2021}}</ref> She received her dance training from her mother, Sally Streets, who danced with the New York City Ballet in the 1950s.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/01/04/arts/dance-kyra-nichols-keeps-balanchine-in-the-air.html|title=Dance; Kyra Nichols Keeps Balanchine in the Air|work=New York Times|date=January 4, 2004}}</ref> She was also taught by Alan Howard, a former member of Ballet Russe de Monte-Carlo and New York City Ballet.<ref name=to/> Starting at age twelve, she attended summer intensives at the School of American Ballet in New York.<ref name=Playbill>{{cite news|url=https://www.playbill.com/article/a-luminous-ballerina-closes-a-remarkable-career|title=A Luminous Ballerina Closes a Remarkable Career|work=Playbill|last=Reiter|first=Susan|date=June 17, 2007}}</ref> After the third summer, she was asked to stay as a full-time student.<ref name=NYT/>
==Career== Nichols became an apprentice with the New York City Ballet in 1974, shortly before she turned 16. She was hired as a full company member later that year.<ref name=Playbill/> In her early career, she was not noticed by choreographer George Balanchine, instead she was mentored by principal dancer Jacques D'Amboise, who also cast her in works he choreographed. Balanchine eventually spotted her and cast her as the principal in the Fourth Movement of ''Symphony in C''.<ref name=Playbill/> Nichols was promoted to soloist in 1978 and principal dancer the following year.<ref name=dance>{{cite news|title=The incredible lightness of Kyra Nichols|work=Dance Magazine|last=Greskovic|first=Robert|date=January 1, 2004}}</ref>
Nichols worked closely with Balanchine.<ref name=pi/> In 1980, he revised his version of ''The Firebird'' on her.<ref name=Oxford/> Balanchine once called her exactness of execution "God-given."<ref name=wsj/> However, he did not make any new ballet on her.<ref name=Oxford/> Balanchine died in 1983, therefore Nichols became one of the last dancers to have worked with him.<ref name=Macaulay>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/25/arts/dance/25nich.html|title=33 Years, and Good to the Last Pirouette|work=New York Times|last=Macaulay|first=Alastair|date=June 25, 2007}}</ref> The various ballets by Balanchine she was known for include ''Serenade'', ''The Nutcracker'', ''Liebeslieder Walzer'', ''Kammermusik No. 2'', ''Divertimento No. 15'',<ref name=Macaulay/> ''Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze'' and ''La Sonnambula''.<ref name=Playbill/>
Nichols had created several roles for Jerome Robbins, starting with the 1978 ''Verdi Variations'', which would become "Spring" in ''The Four Seasons''. Other notable Robbins ballet she originated roles in include ''Piano Pieces'', ''I'm Old Fashioned'', ''Antique Epigraphs'' and ''Rondo''.<ref name=Playbill/><ref name=Kourlas/> She had also worked with choreographers Peter Martins, Susan Stroman,<ref name=dance/> Twyla Tharp and William Forsythe.<ref name=Oxford/>
Towards the end of her dance career, she was allowed to choose what to dance,<ref name=NYT/> and her workload was reduced.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/30/arts/movies/at-city-ballet-some-especially-catch-the-eye-kyra-nichols.html|title=At City Ballet, Some Especially Catch the Eye; Kyra Nichols|work=New York Times|last=Sulcas|first=Roslyn|date=December 30, 2005}}</ref> Following an unusually long 33-year career, Nichols retired from the New York City Ballet in 2007, shortly before she turned 49.<ref name=wsj>{{cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB118238895435242849|title=She's Hanging Up Her Toe Shoes|work=The Wall Street Journal|last=Greskovic|first=Robert|date=June 21, 2007}}</ref> In her farewell performance, she danced ''Serenade'' as the Waltz Girl, ''Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze'' and "Der Rosenkavalier" from ''Vienna Waltzes'', all three were choreographed by Balanchine.<ref name=to>{{cite news|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/not-a-kyra-in-the-world|title=Not a Kyra in the world|work=Time Out|last=Kourlas|first=Gia|date=June 20, 2007}}</ref><ref name=Macaulay/>
Nichols started teaching at the Princeton Ballet School whilst an active dancer,<ref name=to/> and continued to do so after she retired.<ref name=Playbill/> She joined the Pennsylvania Ballet as a ballet mistress in the 2014–15 season.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.phillymag.com/news/2017/10/14/pennsylvania-ballet-angel-corella-drama/|title=What the Hell Is Going On at the Pennsylvania Ballet?|work=Philadelphia|last=Jordan|first=Sarah|date=October 14, 2017}}</ref> At the company, she staged Balanchine's ''Concerto Barocco'' and ''Serenade''.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/03/arts/dance/suzanne-farrell-and-kyra-nichols-carry-on-balanchines-spirit.html|title=Suzanne Farrell and Kyra Nichols Carry On Balanchine's Spirit|work=New York Times|last=Macaulay|first=Alastair|date=November 2, 2015}}</ref> In 2017, she left to join the faculty of Indiana University Jacobs School of Music as Violette Verdy and Kathy Ziliak Anderson Chair in Ballet and professor of music in ballet, succeeding Violette Verdy, who died the previous year.<ref name=pi>{{cite news|url=https://www.inquirer.com/philly/entertainment/arts/pennsylvania-ballet-ballet-mistress-leaps-to-indiana-university-20170512.html|title=Pennsylvania Ballet ballet mistress leaps to Indiana University|work=The Philadelphia Inquirer|last=Dobrin|first=Peter|date=May 12, 2017}}</ref> In 2023, Nichols returned to New York City Ballet for the first time since her retirement to coach three ballets, including Robbins' ''Rondo'', for the company's first performances of the ballet since 1980, as well as Balanchine's ''Walpurgisnacht Ballet'' and ''Donizetti Variations''.<ref name=Kourlas>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/29/arts/dance/kyra-nichols-coaching-new-york-city-ballet.html|title=Easy Does It: Bringing Old-School Wisdom to City Ballet|work=New York Times|last=Kourlas|first=Gia|date=January 29, 2023}}</ref>
==Personal life== Nichols is married to David Gray, who worked at the New York City Ballet press office.<ref name=NYT/> Gray would later serve as Pennsylvania Ballet's executive director.<ref name=pi/> They have two sons, born in 1996 and 2001 respectively.<ref name=dance/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Nichols, Kyra}} Category:1958 births Category:Living people Category:People from Berkeley, California Category:New York City Ballet principal dancers Category:School of American Ballet alumni Category:Jacobs School of Music faculty Category:American prima ballerinas Category:American ballet teachers Category:20th-century American ballet dancers Category:21st-century American ballet dancers Category:Dancers from California Category:21st-century American educators Category:21st-century American women educators