Guggenheim Talk Focuses on Legendary Dancer’s Cookbook

The ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq, a star of the New York City Ballet and a wife of George Balanchine, was an accomplished cook. Polio ended her dancing career in 1956, so she spent more time in the kitchen and eventually wrote “The Ballet Cook Book” (Stein and Day) with recipes and anecdotes from the files of leading figures in the world of dance at that time. More than 90 contributors include Alicia Alonso, Erik Bruhn, Leslie Caron, Margot Fonteyn, Serge Lifar, Arthur Mitchell and Edward Villella. It’s an international cookbook with a strong Russian influence and photographs of dancers, not food. Ballet buffs would love it, but for now, it’s out of print. Next month, for the book’s 50th anniversary, there will be a program about it at the Guggenheim Museum, with the dancers Jacques d’Amboise, Allegra Kent, Jared Angle and Adrian Danchig-Waring in a conversation with Meryl Rosofsky, a food scholar. Some dishes from the book will also be served on a special menu (not included in the program price) at the museum’s restaurant, the Wright: Nov. 5 and 6, 7:30 p.m., $40 ($35 for museum members), worksandprocess.org; the Wright, 212-427-5690, opentable.com.

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