Bettijane Sills, who danced with New York City Ballet from 1961 to 1972, has donated a collection of memorabilia from her career to the National Museum of Dance in Saratoga Springs, New York.

Bettijane Sills with George Balanchine (Photo by Martha Swope)

The donation, which will join the growing archives at NMD, includes pointe shoes, photographs, newspaper articles, and an original Dewdrop costume made by Karinska (Madame Barbara Karinska) from The Nutcracker.

Sills had trained at the School of American Ballet from 1950 to 1961, when she was invited by George Balanchine to join the company, being promoted to soloist in 1963. During her years with the company she danced principal roles in many works including Western Symphony, Divertimento No. 15, and The Nutcracker, as well as roles created for her by Balanchine in Jewels and Who Cares? She received critical acclaim as the wife in Jerome Robbins’ revival of The Concert in 1972, her last year with the company.

Sills, a tenured professor of classical dance at Purchase College, has served on the dance faculty since 1979. Prior to her dancing career she had an extensive career on Broadway and television.

For more information on the museum, visit www.dancemuseum.org.