By Alex Gallafent

On a 1）crisp New York morning in a bright apartment high above the city， the dancersdancer introduces himself.

Frederic Franklin： Alright， Im Frederic Franklin， and I was born in Liverpool， England， and Ive spent most of my life， my wonderful life， here in America.

Franklin is 95 years old， a living library of 20th century ballet， and a bit of an 2）imp， something hes happy to play up in the work he still does with the American Ballet Theater in New York.

Franklins journey from Liverpool to New York began with Russia， or rather with Russian dancers.

The famous 3）Ballets Russes came to his home town in 1929.

Franklin： I was 15 at the time， and it was the 4）Diaghilevs Ballets Russes came to the Empire， and I had never seen， none of us had seen a big ballet company.

Just a little bit of history. The Ballets Russes was founded in 1909. It transformed the way dance was presented. But the company wasnt based in Russia. The Ballets Russes made its home in Paris， and， luckily for Frederic Franklin， they liked to travel. The dancing was from another world. There was nothing to compare to it in England， no real ballet school even， so Franklin studied tap dancing and musical comedy instead. Two years later his mother sent him south to London.

Franklin： I would never have gotten sort of any kind of job， theatre job in Liverpool， and thats how it all began.

Fast forward to 1937， Franklins dancing in London. He gets a phone call. “5）Léonide Massine wants to see you.” Thats Léonide Massine， the famous 6）choreographer for the Ballets Russes. Massine was 7）reconstituting the company as the 8）Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo， and he was looking for talent.

Franklin： ...and I looked into those big brown eyes and he looked at me， and before long he said， “You will be a premiere dancer in my new ballet company. Heres a contract for five years. Sign it.” And I just signed it. That was how it all began with the Russian Ballet. Report here. Do this. On the call. I went on the train， on the boat， did it all， got to 9）Monte Carlo， and thats how it was.

With the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo， Franklin partnered 10）Alexandra Danilova， the same dancer hed seen in Liverpool years before.

Franklin： Dancing with her， that was something.

In fact， their partnership lasted 20 years. And， when you hear Frederic Franklin speak， you notice hes always talking about those “starting points，” the moments of new opportunity.

Franklin： ...and that was the beginning of it all...Thats how all of that began...and thats how it all started.

Maybe thats why Franklin has always felt so at home in America， a nation built on the promise of possibility. Franklin came here to dance and stayed. Hes still performing now.

Franklin： If the legs hold me up， Ill be out there.

But if you ask Franklin where it really all began， he wont tell you about New York or London. There wont be a story from Paris or Monte Carlo. Hell go back to a performance he gave long ago， when he was eight years old， back home in Liverpool.

Franklin： After the performance， my mother and I walked through the theatre， and we picked up a program， and we looked， and by my name someone had written， “a born dancer.” And that about sums the whole thing up. That person had seen me， and writ...and just wrote， whomever it was. I know we had the program for so long， “a born dancer.” Maybe thats the whole story.

一个清冷的早晨，在纽约市一套明亮的高层公寓里，这位“舞者中的舞者”作了自我介绍。

弗雷德里克·富兰克林：好的，我叫弗雷德里克·富兰克林，出生在英国的利物浦，我这奇妙的一生大部分时间都是在美国这里度过的。

富兰克林今年95岁，堪称一部活生生的20世纪芭蕾大全，还是一个老顽童，对此他颇为自豪，他至今仍活跃于美国芭蕾舞剧院的舞台上。

富兰克林从利物浦到纽约的人生之旅始于俄罗斯，或者说，俄罗斯的舞蹈演员。1929年，大名鼎鼎的俄罗斯芭蕾舞团来到他的家乡利物浦巡演。

富兰克林：那年我15岁，佳吉列夫的俄罗斯芭蕾舞团来到英国。在这之前我从来没有看过，我们都没有看过大型芭蕾舞团的演出。

穿插一点这个芭蕾舞团的历史。俄罗斯芭蕾舞团成立于1909年，它完全改变了舞蹈的表现方式。但这个舞团不是设立在俄罗斯，而是在巴黎。他们喜欢到处去巡演，这对富兰克林来说可是一件幸事。他们的舞蹈仿佛来自另一个世界。英国没有这种形式的舞蹈，连像样的芭蕾舞学校都没有，所以富兰克林只能学习踢踏舞和音乐喜剧。两年后，他的母亲送他南下去了伦敦。

富兰克林：要是留在利物浦的话，我不会找到任何跟剧院有关的工作。就这样，我的舞蹈生涯开始了。

时间来到1937年，富兰克林在伦敦跳舞。他接到一个电话，说莱奥尼德·马赛因想见他。莱奥尼德·马赛因是俄罗斯芭蕾舞团著名的编舞家。马赛因正在重组这个舞团，命名为蒙特卡洛俄罗斯芭蕾舞团，并寻找人才加入。

富兰克林：……我看着那双大大的褐色眼睛，他也看着我，我们没谈多久，他就说：“你将成为我新舞团的首席舞蹈演员。这儿有一份五年的合同。签了它吧。”我签了那份合同，就这样走上了我的俄罗斯芭蕾之路。把所有的流程都走完之后，我乘火车又坐船，到了蒙特卡洛，就是这样。

在蒙特卡洛俄罗斯芭蕾舞团，富兰克林和亚历山德拉·丹尼洛娃成了搭档，这正是数年前他在利物浦见过的那个著名舞蹈演员。

富兰克林：跟她跳舞，那可是一件了不得的事情。

事实上，他们搭档了整整20年。听富兰克林讲述，你会注意到他总是在谈那些“起点”，那些新机遇来临的时刻。

富兰克林：……那就是一切的开始……一切就是这么开始的……一切就这样开始了。

富兰克林一直觉得跟美国很契合，也许正因为美国是一个建立在无限可能性之上的国家。他来到这儿演出，就留了下来。直到今天他仍在表演。

富兰克林：只要双脚还站得稳，我都会一直跳下去。

但如果问起富兰克林他舞蹈人生的真正起点，他不会说是纽约或者伦敦，故事的源头也不是巴黎或者蒙特卡洛。他会忆起很久以前在家乡利物浦的一次演出，那时他只有八岁。

富兰克林：演出结束后，我和我母亲穿过剧院时，捡到了一张节目单，在我的名字旁边有人写下了“天生的舞者”几个字。这几个字差不多就把一切都涵盖了。那个人看到我的表演，然后写下了这些字，我并不知道他是谁。这份节目单我们保存了很长时间。“天生的舞者”，也许这就是故事的全部吧。