Lincoln Kirstein

Kirstein's first exposure to live dance was the Boston performances of Anna Pavlova in 1920. He was 12 at the time. It was during his college summers that Kirstein traveled abroad and nourished his fascination with classical dance. In a well-reported incident, Kirstein, while in Venice on holiday in 1929, accidentally wandered into a church where a funeral was in progress. It was only later that he discovered he had witnessed the memorial service for ballet impresario, Sergei Diaghilev. He understood the moment to be a portent of his life to come.