Barbara Fallis

Barbara Fallis (1923/1924 – September 5, 1980) was an American ballet dancer, Broadway performer, and educator born in Denver, Colorado. Shortly after her birth, her family relocated to London, England, where they remained for twelve years until World War II compelled their return to the United States. During those years in London, Fallis and her mother attended performances by notable companies including Ballet Russe, an experience that ignited her passion for dance.

Fallis began serious dance training at age twelve under Joan Lawson, and subsequently auditioned for Ninette de Valois at the Vic-Wells Ballet. Accepted into the Sadler's Wells Ballet School — the training institution directly connected to the Vic-Wells Ballet, which would later become the Royal Ballet — she performed in the corps de ballet under de Valois, who admitted only dancers she considered worthy of company membership. Her time there ended when the outbreak of World War II forced the Fallis family back to America, where they settled in New York City.

In New York, Fallis auditioned for Ballet Theatre with Lucia Chase and joined the company in 1941 at age sixteen. Her debut performance with the company took place in Les Sylphides in Mexico. Over the following eight years, she worked with choreographers including Michel Fokine, Antony Tudor, Bronislava Nijinska, and George Balanchine. Among the original works she performed was Antony Tudor's Pillar of Fire, which premiered in 1942, in which she danced in the corps de ballet. By 1948, she had advanced to a leading role in Les Patineurs alongside John Kriza and Cynthia Risely. That same year, she appeared on Broadway in the musical Fancy Free. Fallis expressed a preference for company roles over soloist parts, as they allowed her to perform as frequently as possible.

In 1948, Fallis departed Ballet Theatre to join Compañía Alicia Alonso, now known as the Cuban National Ballet, in Cuba. There she met fellow dancer Richard Thomas, whom she married in Cuba in 1950. The couple's first child, Richard Thomas, was born in 1951, and the family returned to New York in 1953. Their son Richard would later become a well-known child actor, recognized for his role in the television series The Waltons.

Back in New York City, both Barbara and Richard Thomas joined the New York City Ballet, dancing under Balanchine. Fallis remained with the company until 1958, performing in productions including Western Symphony and Balanchine's first Nutcracker. Following her departure from New York City Ballet, she performed for a period at Jacob's Pillow.

In 1963, Fallis and her husband founded the New York School of Ballet to train young dancers. During the school's early years, the couple also taught at the Pennsylvania Ballet in Philadelphia, with that work helping to fund their institution. In 1969, George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein offered the school the former studios of the School of American Ballet, and the New York School of Ballet relocated there. Among the students trained at the school were Eliot Feld, Twyla Tharp, Sean Lavery, Debbie Allen, Cynthia Gregory, and Christine Sarry.

In 1975, following Feld's departure from the school, Fallis and Richard Thomas established the performing company U.S. Terpsichore to give their students stage experience. The company toured a repertory of more than thirty ballets in both classical and contemporary styles, and the revenue generated from touring continually supported the New York School of Ballet. Both of the couple's children — Richard Thomas and their daughter Bronwyn Thomas — performed with the company.

Fallis continued teaching at the New York School of Ballet alongside her husband until her death on September 5, 1980. She died at New York Hospital, where she had been receiving treatment for cancer, at the age of fifty-six.