My Surprising Duet With Arthur Mitchell in Cold War Moscow by Allegra Kent

'One of my most vivid memories of Arthur Mitchell, who died last week, is of dancing with him in Moscow in 1962. George Balanchine, New York City Ballet’s founding choreographer, had left the Soviet Union in the 1920s. And now he was returning for the first time to present his company of American dancers.

Tensions were high between our countries. We were deep in the Cold War, just a week before the Cuban Missile Crisis. On opening night, the Soviet premier, Nikita Khrushchev, was in the audience, and so were top party members.

Arthur and I were dancing in Balanchine’s “Agon,” with music by Igor Stravinsky, the last ballet on the program. Balanchine was nervous. The cast was nervous. But not Arthur. (Arthur was never nervous.) In the wings before our pas de deux, he could see I was jumping out of my skin. He said, “This is just a small town, Allegra.” What he said was so ludicrous that it calmed me down.'>>>

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/09/25/arts/dance/allegra-kent-arthur-mitchell-ballet.html?