Darci Kistler

Darci Kistler was born in Riverside, California, the youngest of five children and the only girl. Always athletic, Ms. Kistler enjoyed many sports, including skiing, waterskiing, swimming, tennis, football, and dirt biking, before she began studying ballet. At the age of 12 she began studying with Irina Kosmovska in Los Angeles, and that same year she attended a summer session at the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet. Two years later, she received a full scholarship to SAB.
Ms. Kistler participated in two SAB Workshops. In the first, in 1979, she danced a principal role in Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux's Haydn Concerto, choreographed especially for the Workshop, and danced the pas de deux by August Bournonville from the opera William Tell, staged by Stanley Williams. In 1980, Ms. Kistler danced the principal role in George Balanchine's one-act Swan Lake. She prepared for the role by studying extensively with Alexandra Danilova.

Ms. Kistler joined New York City Ballet as a member of the corps de ballet in April 1980, was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1981, and became a principal dancer in 1982.

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