At the Feet of a Master

Darci Kistler stood before a small class at UC Irvine to describe life as one of America’s reigning ballerinas and to recount her years as the last protege of legendary choreographer George Balanchine.

But no artistic revelation brought so strong a reaction as Kistler’s remark about how far into her pregnancy she had danced. Daughter Talicia will be 2 in June.

“I did class the day she was born,” Kistler said.

The class gasped--even though, as ballet students, they know that such fragile-appearing creatures as Kistler, on campus this week as a UC Regents’ lecturer in dance, are made of iron.

Just under 5-foot-6, pawing the floor with impossibly lithe legs, Kistler looked to weigh no more than 100 pounds in the black tights, pink toe shoes and billowy velvet cloak she wore to teach Wednesday morning’s advanced ballet class.

Yet Kistler’s chiseled limbs testify to 20 years with New York City Ballet, where she continues to hone one of the dance world’s most demanding techniques: the singular neoclassical style developed by Balanchine that’s characterized by a sharp attack and mercurial speed.

“Hit the position sooner!” Kistler called to students moving into arabesques.

“We were taught: Do the work, but don’t show it,” she said during a break. Later, the Riverside native, who gives her age as 33, answered dance history students’ questions about her lightning-quick, two-year rise from corps de ballet member to principal in 1980.

As he had with such world-famous proteges as Maria Tallchief, Suzanne Farrell and Gelsey Kirkland, Balanchine coached and cast Kistler in his “choicest roles,” she said, including the leads in such masterworks as “Agon,” “Apollo,” “Concerto Barocco” and “La Sonnambula.”

The man who wanted to be seen as less of a legend and more of a human being, she said, also sought her out like a friend to discuss religion, his ballets, chicken soup. He was about 75 when the mentorship began, and he crammed as much as he could into a short time. They had only about three years together before he died in 1983.

“I think he said [to himself], ‘I’m going to die and I’m going to give this girl the career she should have,’ ” she told the students. “I miss him.”

Kistler, who will deliver a free public lecture at the university Thursday, also discussed “The Sleeping Beauty.” When she saw the chestnut at age 5, she vowed to become a ballet dancer.

New York City Ballet owes its “Beauty,” staged by Peter Martins, its chief and Kistler’s husband, to Lincoln Kirstein, who co-founded the troupe and its School of American Ballet with Balanchine. The latter had often told Kirstein of his desire to produce the ballet, whose 1991 premiere was one of Kirstein’s last dreams. He died in 1996.

“Lincoln Kirstein did see it--that I think was the most important thing--and he gave his nod of approval,” said Kistler, who danced the lead, Aurora, five years ago at the Orange County Performing Arts Center. It’s one of her favorite roles.

“I feel like I grow up. I start as a young girl and I end up as a queen. It’s fun.”

In preparation for such a stamina-challenging role, Kistler said she occasionally beefs up her daily routine--morning class followed by at least three hours of rehearsal--with step classes, maybe even a funk class.

During rehearsals, she runs through her parts without stopping to fuss over goofs or flubs. After all, “you can’t stop and say, ‘Let’s do it over,’ in performance,” Kistler said.

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Injuries have repeatedly thwarted her career for months at a time. Still, she has always managed to come back, even after a four-year hiatus to heal a fractured ankle.

She’s not dancing as much as she’d like but plans to star in Martins’ new full-length “Swan Lake” next year, she said, and she won fine reviews for recent appearances with the company.

“Ms. Kistler’s technique can dazzle,” a New York Times critic wrote in January, “but it can also accent the contrast between delicate and large steps.”

So what’s her advice for longevity in ballet? a student asked. Take care of your body, Kistler said; it’s your instrument.

Otherwise, “just enjoy it--like anything in life. If you enjoy it, you can do it for a long time.”

* Darci Kistler will discuss her career with New York City Ballet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at UC Irvine’s Village Theatre, near West Peltason Drive and Mesa Road. Free. (714) 824-7283.