Richard Cragun was an American ballet dancer ? one of the most influential dancers of the twentieth century. Cragun was born in Sacramento, California, United States. He studied at the Banff School of Fine Arts, the Royal Ballet School, and with Vera Volkova. Cragun's artistic development is closely associated with John Cranko, who engaged him in 1962 for the Stuttgart Ballet. With Cranko's choreography, Cragun became world-famous. He also forged a successful partnership with the ballerina Marcia Hayd�e. Even after Cranko's death, Cragun remained at the Stuttgart Ballet through the end of his dancing career in 1996. There, and in his many guest appearances around the world, he worked with several choreographers who have significantly influenced the development of dance. He danced in works choreographed by Kenneth MacMillan, John Neumeier, Jiri Kylian, William Forsythe, and Maurice Bejart. From 1996 to 1999, he was ballet director at the Deutsche Oper Berlin. He left Berlin in 1999 to start a new ballet company in the Brazilian city of Curitiba and at the Teatro Municipal of Rio de Janeiro with his partner Roberto de Oliveira. 

October 5th, 1944 in Sacramento  /  Died:   Aug 6th, 2012 - aids, aged 67