Diana Adams (March 29, 1926 –
January 10, 1993) was a principal dancer for the New York City Ballet from 1950
to 1963 and favorite of George Balanchine, later becoming a teacher at — and
dean of — the School of American Ballet. Diana Adams was one of George
Balanchine’s “muses” at New York City Ballet and he created roles for her in a
series of ballets: Western Symphony, Ivesiana, Divertimento #15, Agon, Stars
and Stripes, Episodes, Monumentum Pro Gesualdo, and Liebeslieder Walzer.
Balanchine also created roles on her in Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Figure in the
Carpet, Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Movements for Piano and Orchestra,
although she did not dance in the premieres due to illness or injury.