Leon Danielian
Later life and career
Later life and career
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In his late thirties, debilitated by arthritis, Danielian gave up performing and devoted himself to teaching. He taught technique classes, men's classes, and partnering classes at the Ballet Russe School in New York in the early 1960s, and from 1968 to 1980 he was director of [American Ballet Theatre](/wiki/American_Ballet_Theatre "American Ballet Theatre") School. There he not only taught classes but was an effective leader of the faculty and administrator of the school.Alex C. Ewing, *Bravura!: Lucia Chase and the American Ballet Theatre* (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2009\). In 1982 he became director of the dance program at the [University of Texas at Austin](/wiki/University_of_Texas_at_Austin "University of Texas at Austin"), where he was named a professor of fine arts. Although he had never graduated from high school, he prized learning and was well versed in art, theater, and dance history. He thus fit very well in a university setting. Although he suffered from the effects of a hip replacement, a heart operation, and a stroke in his later years, he continued teaching until his retirement in 1991\.Anderson, *New York Times*, 12 March 1997\. A dance studio at the university is named in his honor.["In Memoriam: Leon Danielian,"](http://www.utexas.edu/faculty/councio/2000-2001/memorials) University of Texas at Austin official website. Retrieved 9 December 2013\.


What did Leon Danielian give up doing in his late thirties?