Massine is difficult to know, for he is shy, and he has a great wall of natural reserve that takes a long time to penetrate. Once penetrated, it is possible to experience one of life’s greater satisfactions in the conversation, the intelligence, the knowledge of the mature Massine. Massine’s poise and sense of order never leave him. There is a meticulousness about him and a neatness that indicate the possession of an orderly mind. Everything he reads which he feels may be of even the slightest value to him at some future time, he preserves in large clipping-books. About him is a calm that is exceptional in a Russian--a calm that is exceptional in any one associated with the dance, where the habit is to shout as loudly as possible at the slightest provocation, or no provocation at all, and to become violently excited and agitated over the most unimportant things. There is about him none of the superficial “temperament” too often assumed to be the prerogative of artists. He has a sharp sense of humor; but it is a sense of humor that is keen and dry. His wit can be sharp and extremely cutting. He has not always been loved by his associates; but very few of them have ever really known him. Filled with fire, energy, enthusiasm, his constant desire is to build something better. As a dancer, he still dances, as no one else, the Miller in _The Three-Cornered Hat_ and the Can Can Dancer in _La Boutique Fantasque_. Personally, I prefer only Massine in the roles he has created for himself. No other dancer can approach him in these. I have mentioned his long sojourn at the Roxy Theatre, in New York. Under the conditions imposed--a new work to be staged weekly, to dance four times a day--masterpieces were obviously impossible; but the work he did was of vast importance in building a dance public in New York. There are those today who chide Massine for his all too frequent re-creations of his old pieces, and lay it to Massine’s obsession with money. It is true, Massine does have a concern for money. But, after all, he has a wife, two growing children, and other responsibilities. However, I do not believe finance is the sole reason, and I, for one, wish he would not be eternally reproducing his old works. _Le Beau Danube_ will live forever as one of the finest _genre_ works of all time. But it must be properly done. I remember, to my sorrow, seeing a recent production of the _Danube_ Massine staged in Paris, with Roland Petit--with a company of only fourteen dancers. Further comment is not required. I have a deep and abiding affection for Leonide Massine as a person--an affection that is very deep and real. As an artist, I believe he is still the greatest individual personality in ballet today--a choreographer of deep knowledge, imagination, and ability.