1927. It sure was a year. A friend emailed me last night with a list of birthdays for 2002. I'm sure everyone will find a favorite:

Maurice Béjart (1 Jan.),
Yuri Grigorovitch (2),
John Cranko (15 Aug.),
Pavel Smog (Prague, 22 Oct.),

John Percival (16 March),
Clive Barnes (13 May)

So Clive Barnes will be 75?! Come to think of it, he's one of the few NYC-based ballet critics who seems to have missed the Kirov-Kennedy Center run...or did I just miss spotting him? He usually comes.