FELD, ELIOT

born July 5, 1942, New York City American dancer, choreographer, and director. Feld began his classical training at the School of American Ballet and danced the role of the Little Prince in the New York City Ballet's The Nutcracker in 1954. He studied modern dance at the High School for the Performing Arts and with Donald McKayle and Pearl Lang. Feld performed in the original stage and film versions of West Side Story, after which he studied ballet with Richard Thomas. He was accepted into the corps of the American Ballet Theatre (1963) and began to choreograph. His first work, Harbinger (1963), was a success. In 1968 Feld left the American Ballet Theatre to form his own group, the American Ballet Company, which lasted three years. It was re-formed as the Eliot Feld Ballet in 1973 and thereafter became a company of international repute. Among Feld's most popular works are Intermezzo (1969), Jive (1973), Mazurka (1975), and Papillon (1979).