Patricia Denise Galian

1922 - 2018

September 22, 1922 - July 5, 2018 Patricia Denise Galian, AKA Alexandra Denisova, AKA Pat Denise, passed away peacefully in Thousand Oaks, California, July 5th at the age of 95. Patricia Denise Meyers was born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, on September 22, 1922 to Grace and Douglas Meyers. She studied ballet in Vancouver with American dancer June Roper from 1934-1938. Pat withdrew from public school to spend a full day in the studio mastering ballet technique in the Cecchetti method. When Colonel de Basil's Original Ballet Russe performed in Vancouver in 1938, June Roper requested an audition for Pat and two other Canadian girls. After being put through the most demanding balletic sequences, Pat successfully auditioned (at midnight) for David Lichine, Tatiana Riabouchinska, Colonel De Basil, Yurek Shabelevsky and was offered a contract. She was then given the Russian stage name of Alexandra Denisova. Riabouchinska and Irina Baronova, two of the original baby ballerinas, were Pat's mentors. She was only 15 years old. Her first solo role was in the premier of David Lichine's Protée on July 5, 1938 at Covent Garden, introducing Denisova to London viewers. Within months, she was dancing other principal roles and when Baronova injured her ankle, Denisova was selected to replace her in Choreartium, Jeux d' Enfants and Le Mariage d' Aurore. In 1940 Baronova joined Léonide Massine's Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and Denisova inherited her lead roles in Paganini, Cendrillon and Les Papillons, handling them so successfully that critic Arnold Haskell wrote in the publication The Home on April 1, 1940: "Young Denisova during the season danced many of her (Baronova) roles. For any ballerina to undertake this means shouldering an initial handicap, but the Canadian girl proved her mettle and earned high praise." When the Original Ballet Russe toured Australia, Denisova performed in Les Cent Baisers and Scuola di Ballo and then performed in the exceptional fouetté competition in David Lichine's Graduation Ball. Arnold Haskell wrote again about Denisova in his book, Balletomane's Album: "Denisova's success is an immediate tribute to Lichine's work." Now at eighteen years old, Denisova was billed as a principal dancer in the company touring in the United States, Europe, Australia and New Zealand. In 1941, she began the next chapter of her career. Denisova left the Ballet Russe and moved to Havana, Cuba with Alberto Alonso, also from the Ballet Russe, to lay the groundwork for the ballet company, Sociedad Pro-Arte Musical serving as prima ballerina, ballet mistress, choreographer and teacher. Together they restaged ballets such as Folkine's Les Sylphides, Aurora's Wedding and Prince Igor. She created roles in Alberto Alonso's Los Preludios, La Hija de Generál and Concerto. The four years that Denisova and Alonso taught, performed, created and toured in Cuba helped to develop the direction for the ballet there. In 1944 while visiting her sister and brother-in-law in New York, she was approached by David Lichine who offered her a part in his Broadway production Rhapsody, which required extraordinary technique, and she accepted. She remained in the states and went on to perform on Broadway in George Balanchine's ballet for Song of Norway, Sweethearts, Pardon Our French, Tsk, Tsk, Tsk! Paree and A La Carte. In the 1950s and for the next decade, Denisova's career would continue to Hollywood where she became Hollywood's most expert Assistant Dance Director, under the name of Pat Denise. In this capacity, she worked with Jack Cole (Kismet), Fred Astaire (The Band Wagon), Michael Kidd (Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Meet Me in Las Vegas), Gene Kelly (Singing in the Rain, It's Always Fair Weather, Marjorie Morningstar), Danny Kaye (Knock on Wood), Charles O'Curran (Road to Bali), Alex Romero (The Prodigal), Marge and Gower Champion (Three for the Show), Busby Berkeley (Two Tickets to Broadway), Jack Donohue (Two Sisters from Boston, Easy to Wed) and Eugene Loring (Silk Stockings, Funny Face), to name a few. While assisting Gene Kelly on Marjorie Morningstar, she met and courted pianist Geri Galian (her "Very Precious Love") and the two wed in 1958. Together they went on to work in television on the Dean Martin Show, The Bobby Darin Show with Marc Wilder, The Hollywood Palace with Fred Astaire and Barrie Chase, Bonanza, The Julie Andrews Show and The Fred Astaire Specials. She taught ballet and jazz in her later career retiring in 1989, at the age of 66, teaching classical ballet at the Stanley Holden Dance Center in West Los Angeles. Pat became a naturalized US citizen in 1997. When talking about her 51-year career, she once said, "Those are the chapters of my life but the best chapter of all, and the one I was most proud of, was having my family." She is survived by her 4 daughters, 5 grandchildren and 2 great-grandchildren.