Based on the documentary Afternoon of a Faun: Tanaquil Le Clercq.

There are few more haunting stories in in the world of ballet than that of the mysterious Tanaquil Le
Clercq. A ballerina at the height of her career, suddenly stricken with polio, never to walk or dance
again. But not just any ballerina; the muse to George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, arguably the two
greatest choreographers in 20th Century America. She seduced them as a dancer and as a woman, as
she did her audiences – no one was more beautiful on stage and more mesmerizing. She had fame, love
and adoration until it suddenly all stopped. Tanny danced until she collapsed; she was rushed to the
hospital, was in an iron lung, near death.

Tanaquil Le Clercq would never dance again, nor would she ever inspire these giants. It is the way Tanny
copes with not only the loss of her legs, but the loss of their love, that is the drama of our story. Its
heartbeat is Tanny courage, her singular wit and determination to forge an independent life no longer
reliant on these artists to make her whole. She is a powerful inspiration to anyone who knows her story.

Director: Nancy Buirski

Producer: Susan Margolin, Nancy Buirski