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The natural: San Francisco Ballet's Tina LeBlanc blends technique, verve, classicism--and range.

Article Excerpt
At best, judging dancers by their national origin is a fool's game. But who can resist playing it when the dancer is Tina LeBlanc? Watch her perform for 20 minutes and you will know why she is the quintessential American ballerina.

The purity of her line, the directness of her gesture, the clarity of her articulation, the vulnerability with which she permits the music to engulf her limbs, and the sheer naturalness of her demeanor--all betoken the guilelessness of this country at its finest. LeBlanc's biography offers no contradiction. She was trained entirely on native soil, launched her professional career in association with one major American dance institution, the Joffrey Ballet, and has attained her glorious peak in another, the San Francisco Ballet, which LeBlanc does not hesitate to call "the best company in the country." Except for raising a family, there has been nothing else: Her star has risen high in the sky and remains there, radiating a luster that remains undimmed even now in her late 30s.

LeBlanc, who has danced professionally for 24 years, has been a principal at SFB since 1992. She exalts everything from the Maryinsky classics to de Mille's folksy Rodeo to Balanchine's cut-crystal Square Dance to Forsythe's edgy, daredevil excursions. She commands the noblest partners, the highest respect from colleagues, and after a period of uncertainty, on both her part and theirs, the most loving response from audiences.

So, in conversation, you might expect the voice of experience to dominate, a hint of "been there, danced it all" satisfaction, maybe a bit of weariness. Uh-uh. This is the same Tina LeBlanc who,...

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