PARIS (AFP).- Violette Verdy, one of the ballet world's most loved ballerinas and choreographers, has died aged 82, after leading a life that inspired generations of dancers, the Paris Opera announced on Tuesday.

Verdy, who died Monday in the United States, was perhaps best known for being a muse to dance titan George Balanchine, dubbed the father of American ballet.

Born in 1933, Verdy took her first steps in Paris' Ballet des Champs-Elysees, though it was later in the United States that her career really took off. 

She first joined the American Ballet Theater and then the New York City Ballet, where she became a principal -- the highest rank for a dancer in a company.

Then in 1977, she made history by becoming the first woman to head the Paris Opera's ballet, a role she kept until 1980.

Back in the United States, she became director of the Boston Ballet, from 1980 to 1984. She then devoted the following years to teaching in New York.

She also made her mark as a choreographer, composing the dance for "Variations" and "Diverdymento".

The dance world on Tuesday mourned her loss, with Dance Magazine publishing an especially moving tribute.

"She was lyrical yet sprightly, and knew how to draw out a note until its very last moment. As Balanchine put it, she spoke with her feet. But more than anything, audiences fell for her natural charm. Simply put, she sparkled onstage," the article read.

"When she died yesterday at age 82, the ballet world lost one of its classiest, most graceful souls."



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