Afternoon of a Faun Tanaquil Le Clercq 2013 Of all the great ballerinas, Tanaquil Le Clercq may have been the most transcendent With a body unlike any before hers, she mesmerized viewers and choreographers alike her elongated, race horse physique became the new prototype for the great George Balanchine Her unique style, humor and authenticity redefined ballet for all dancers who followed Amazingly, she was the muse to not one great artist but two both George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins loved her as a dancer and a woman Balanchine married her and Robbins created his famous version of Afternoon of a Faun for Tanny Tanaquil Le Clercq was the foremost dancer of her day until it suddenly all stopped On a tour of Europe, she was struck down by polio and paralyzed She never danced again