Diana Adams

Diana Adams (March 29, 1926 – January 10, 1993) was an American dancer whose career encompassed Broadway performance, principal work with the New York City Ballet, and teaching at the School of American Ballet. Born in Staunton, Virginia, she died in San Andreas, California, where she had lived in nearby Arnold.

Adams began her professional career on Broadway, appearing in productions between 1943 and 1946. Her stage credits included the musicals Oklahoma!, One Touch of Venus, and Fancy Free.

From 1950 to 1963, Adams served as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet, where she became closely associated with choreographer George Balanchine. Balanchine created roles for her in a substantial number of works, among them Western Symphony, Ivesiana, Divertimento No. 15, Agon, Stars and Stripes, Episodes, Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, and Liebeslieder Walzer. According to the memoirs of Jacques D'Amboise, Balanchine also created roles on Adams in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Figure in the Carpet, A Midsummer Night's Dream, and Movements for Piano and Orchestra, though illness or injury prevented her from dancing in those premieres.

Adams appeared in two films during this period: Knock on Wood in 1954 and Invitation to the Dance in 1956, the latter featuring her dancing alongside Irving Davies.

Following her performing career, Adams joined the faculty of the School of American Ballet, eventually serving as its dean. In her personal life, she was married to dancer Hugh Laing from 1947 to 1953, and later to Ronald Bates, with whom she had a daughter, Georgina Bates.