Francis Patrelle, founder of Dances Patrelle and longtime teacher, dies at 78

Francis Patrelle, a New York ballet teacher and choreographer who founded the company Dances Patrelle and taught for decades at Ballet Academy East, died on Dec. 27 in Pensacola, Fla. He was 78; his death in a hospital from complications of a fall was confirmed by his brother, Joseph.

In a career that spanned more than five decades, Mr. Patrelle was a mainstay of the New York ballet scene as a teacher of children and adults and as the creator of chamber ballets. After presenting an evening of his dances in 1986, he founded Dances Patrelle in 1987 and went on to create more than 50 works, frequently blending his ensemble with guest performers from American Ballet Theater, New York City Ballet and Dance Theater of Harlem.

Mr. Patrelle championed the story ballet when tastes often leaned toward abstraction. His most popular creation was the Yorkville Nutcracker, set in 1895 New York, with an opening party at Gracie Mansion and a Central Park snow scene featuring ice skaters in long dresses and muffs; costumes were often by Rita B.

Watson. He also made ballets about historical figures such as Clara Schumann, Lucrezia Borgia and Vincent van Gogh, and his semi-autobiographical 1994 work Anyone Can…! addressed a young man’s struggle with sexual identity to Stephen Sondheim songs. He taught at Ballet Academy East for 40 years, taught movement for singers at the Manhattan School of Music for over two decades and taught briefly at Barnard College in the late 1990s.

Key Topics

Culture, Francis Patrelle, Dances Patrelle, Yorkville Nutcracker, Ballet Academy East, American Ballet Theater