Melissa Hayden

Melissa Hayden

 Melissa Hayden, stage name of Mildred Herman, ballet dancer and teacher (b at Toronto, Ont 25 Apr 1923, d at Winston-Salem, NC 9 Aug 2006). During her long performing career Melissa Hayden became internationally known as a ballerina of dazzling virtuosity and dramatic intensity. Hayden trained first in Toronto with Boris VOLKOFF before leaving at age 16 for further studies in New York. There she danced with Ballet Theatre (later the American Ballet Theatre) and other companies. In 1950 she joined the New York City Ballet where, except for a return to ABT in the mid-1950s and other brief guest engagements, she danced until her retirement in 1973. She was artistic director of Pacific Northwest Ballet in Seattle, WA 1976-77. Until 1983 Hayden had her own teaching studio in New York. She also taught at the North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem.