"Very often you are in the right place, at the right time, but you don't know it."

For the New York City Ballet's production of The Nutcracker in 1954, Maria was the prima ballerina + thus had the lead role of the Sugar Plum Fairy. Before Maria's take on the role, The Nutcracker ballet was practically unknown. She brought a poise + gravitas to the part that helped propel the work to a Christmas classic ~ still performed far + wide to this day.

Walter E. Owen | Dance Magazine |

A still from a recent production of The Nutcracker ~ a ballet Maria helped popularize.

Gabriel Saldana | CC BY-SA 2.0 |