Zachary Solov (1923-2004).

Zachary Solov, the former ballet master of the Metropolitan Opera, died in November at the age of 81. According to Dean Temple, who is writing his biography, Solov was a natural dancer. His parents were deaf so sign language was his first language, and he painted pictures with his hands his entire life. He was a tapper as a child, performing on the streets, in vaudeville, and on radio.

He was, according to Temple, "mesmerized" at the first sight of a ballet class. He began studying with Caroline Littlefield in his early teens and eventually joined the Littlefield Ballet, which gave Balanchine many of his early dancers. While on a 1941 tour of Latin American with the American Ballet Caravan, he taught sign language to a fascinated Balanchine, who said it was similar to the mime he had learned in St. Petersburg.

Solov was drafted in 1943 and staged a number of reviews for the troops--like so many dancers, he was at home in both ballet and Broadway. He was ballet master of the Metropolitan Opera from 1951 to 1958. He briefly led his own company, Zachary Solov Ballet Ensemble, but continued to choreograph for the Met, regional ballet companies, and musicals. He also co-authored, with William English, Basic Ballet: A New Way to Learn the Fundamentals. --MARY LYNN CARGILL