Allegra Kent

Allegra Kent (born August 11, 1937) is an American ballet dancer and actress.Iris Margo Cohen was born to Jewish parents, Harry Herschel and Shirley (née Weissman) Cohen, and later changed her name to Allegra Kent. Kent grew up in what she later described as a dysfunctional environment. In Once a Dancer: An Autobiography, she describes her Texan father (who liked to substitute Cowboy for Herschel) as having a gamblers soul and a restless nature (at pgs 5, 7). She describes her Wisznice (present-day Poland)-born immigrant mother as feeling neither European nor American; she was ashamed of her [own] parents... she borrowed a neighbors working papers and took a job at twelve. By fourteen, she was teaching ballroom dancing at night in someones private home, mostly to Japanese men (at pg. 6).Born in Santa Monica, Kent studied with Bronislava Nijinska and Carmelita Maracci before joining the School of American Ballet. She had completely flat feet as a little girl and consulted a doctor, who prescribed wedges in her shoes to give her arches. She then began taking ballet.After graduating, she joined the New York City Ballet in 1953 at the age of 15, and was promoted to principal in 1957. Many roles in George Balanchines ballets were created for her, including Seven Deadly Sins, Ivesiana and Bugaku. She danced the role of Dewdrop in the 1958 Playhouse 90 telecast of Balanchines version of The Nutcracker.She performed in such ballets as Serenade, Agon and Dances at a Gathering. She retired in 1981, becoming a ballet teacher, and in 1997 published an autobiography, Once a Dancer. In 2012, Kent published her first book for children, Ballerina Swan, with Holiday House Books for Young People, illustrated by Caldecott Medalist Emily Arnold McCully. It has received rave reviews from The New York Times, Kirkus Reviews, and School Library Journal. In Fall of 2013, Ballerina Swan was adapted for the stage as a dance piece by New York City Childrens Theater, featuring choreographer Michael McGowan and artistic director Barbara Zinn Krieger. The adaptation received positive reviews by the New York Times, Time Out New York Kids, The Mama Maven, and many others. Due to its success, in December 2015, New York City Childrens Theater produced a revival of Ballerina Swan.Allegra Kent currently teaches ballet at Barnard College.

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