Heather Watts was a principal ballerina with New York City Ballet. A native of California, Ms. Watts was born as Linda Heather Watts in Long Beach on September 27, 1953. As a little girl, she had always wanted to be an actress. An acting coach advised her taking ballet classes. She started dancing at the age of 10, came to New York at the age of 13 on a Ford Foundation summer scholarship to attend the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet. She moved permanently to New York at age 15, again on a Ford Foundation scholarship to the School of American Ballet. Watts joined the New York City Ballet in 1970 and was promoted to principal dancer by company founder George Balanchine in 1979. George Balanchine took Watts into his companies "because he would not let such a talent disappear." During Ms. Watts's tenure with the company, she had numerous principal roles created for her by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins among others. Mr. Balanchine gave Ms. Watts the principal roles in many of his existing masterpieces, including Agon, Concerto Barocco, Apollo, Symphony in C, Theme and Variations and Serenade. Ms. Watts performed around the world and starred in numerous Dance in America television programs, and she performed opposite frequent partner Mikhail Baryshnikov at the White House in a national televised performance of Balanchine's Rubies for President and Mrs. Carter. Ms. Watts retired from the stage in a gala performance at Lincoln Center in 1995.In addition to her dancing career, Ms. Watts was director of the New York State Summer School of the Arts in Saratoga Springs from 1982 to 1994, where she administered a ballet school for gifted children. Ms. Watts has directed many national and international dance touring companies, including a tour entitled "Homage a Balanchine" of 108 cities for Columbia Artists, and she has rehearsed and staged ballets around the world. She has also designed costumes for new ballets at the New York City Ballet, as well as for Off-Broadway productions. Ms. Watts was a founding board member of Gods Love We Deliver and also served on the board of Friends In Deed, both services for persons living with AIDS—she was among the first artists to join the fight against AIDS in the mid-1980s. She is the co-author, with Jock Soto, of Our Meals: Making a Home for Family and Friends (Riverhead, 1997). Among the many awards that Ms. Watts has received are Jerome Robbins Award, the Dance Magazine Award, the L'Oreal Shining Star Award, the Lions of the Performing Arts Award from the New York Public Library, and various state awards for education. She has appeared on the Charlie Rose Show, Good Morning America, and the CBS Morning News among other programs. Ms. Watts has served as a panelist for the National Endowment for the Arts, and currently serves on the Artists Committee for the Kennedy Center Honors, and on the selection committee for the Bessie Awards 2011 in New York
She casually dresses in loose sloppy and baggy clothes
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Fact
1
Peter Martins personally selected her as the first ballerina to dance the world premiere of his very first work as a choreographer, "Calcium Light Night".
2
She won two Derek Bok awards for distinguished teaching of ballet at Harvard.
3
Had a long time personal relationship with Peter Martins. They were friends, lovers, confidants and collaborators.
4
Was especially inspired to dance after seeing a New York City Ballet performance with Edward Villella and Gelsey Kirkland.
5
She has won the Jerome Robbins Award, the Dance Magazine Award, the L'Oreal Shining Star Award, the Lions of the Performing Arts Award from the New York Public Library, among others.
$19 Million
