Michael Avedon began attending New York City Ballet performances as a teenager in the 1950s. Later he pursued a career in photography that included many NYCB dancers as subjects. He married NYCB’s Mimi Paul, and later was NYCB’s head of make up. Their son Kristofer spent much of his chilldhood backstage.
He died February 24 at age 83.
In 1975, Avedon designed costumes for Balanchine’s Rhapsode Espagnole, a premiere in the company’s Ravel Festival.
“I hold Michael Avedon’s artistic ability in very high regard,” Balanchine wrote in a 1975 letter to the United Scenic Artists Union.