Allegra Kent b. 1937 New York City Ballet Photo: Martha Swope Photo: Martha Swope Photo: Martha Swope Photo: Martha Swope Photo: Bert Stern Photo: Martha Swope All photos copyright by their respective owners. Allegra Kent was born in Santa Monica, California, in 1937. She studied with Bronislava and Irina Nijinska, with Carmelita Maracci, and at the School of American Ballet. She joined the New York City Ballet in 1953 and was promoted to principal in 1957. She was a muse of George Balanchine. She created roles in the following Balanchine ballets: Ivesiana 1954, Agon 1957, Bugaku 1963 and Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet 1966. For Jerome Robbins she created roles in Dances at a Gathering 1969 and Dumbarton Oaks 1972. She retired in 1981 to work as a freelance teacher. In 1997 she published her autobiography "Once a Dancer".