David Hallberg grew up obsessed by Fred Astaire

Dance

Studying tap dance as a kid, before he got proper shoes, says David Hallberg, “I taped nickels on the bottom of my penny loafers.”

Hallberg explains this charmingly in a marvelous profile that aired today on CBS’s News’s  “Sunday Morning” program.

The premier dancer of the Bolshoi Ballet and principal at American Ballet Theatre more than holds his own in the interview.

It’s interesting to hear how one of the world’s leading danseur nobles gradually got enveloped into classical ballet, and that he was teased by bullies as a kid because of it.

“Did it [the taunting] stop you from dancing?” he is asked. He replies, “Never~!”

That’s the spirit, David.

Such a lovely young man and such a joy to watch this. So touching to consider Hallberg’s move to Moscow, as a free artist, juxtaposed with Nureyev and Baryshnikov’s defections in the opposite direction.

Beautifully done, CBS News.

Thanks for the share, Owen Simon.


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