Erik Bruhn

Erik Bruhn was the Danish noble of classical ballet -- a technician of such purity and elegance that Mikhail Baryshnikov later named him the greatest male dancer he ever saw. Principal dancer of the Royal Danish Ballet and frequent guest with American Ballet Theatre throughout the 1950s and 60s, his Albrecht in Giselle and James in La Sylphide set the interpretive standard for Romantic-era roles that persists to this day. He was also an influential director, leading the Royal Swedish Ballet and the National Ballet of Canada, where he died in 1986 after significantly raising the company's international profile.