[1] From 1958 to 1977 she was a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet where she performed in the world premieres of several works created specifically for her by choreographers George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins.

[3] Born in Pont-l'Abbé, a seacoast town in the Finistère department of Brittany, in northwestern France, she was christened Nelly Armande Guillerm by her parents.

[4] Her father, Renan Guillerm, died when she was a few months old; her mother, Jeanne Chateaureynaud, a schoolteacher, enrolled her daughter in dance lessons because she seemed to have so much energy.

With the last-named troupe, she created the role of the heroine of Petit's Le Loup (The Wolf, 1953), set to the music of Henri Dutilleux, which proved to be a significant turning point in her development as an interpretive artist.

With her new company she quickly charmed American audiences in such repertory works as Gala Performance and Offenbach in the Underworld, both created by Antony Tudor and both with a decidedly French flavor.

3 by George Balanchine, and a dramatic interpretation of the title role in Miss Julie, based on the 1888 play by August Strindberg and choreographed by Birgit Cullberg in 1950.

Eager to work with George Balanchine, she promptly joined the company where, with rare exceptions, she would spend the next twenty years of her performing career.

15, Scotch Symphony, Stars and Stripes, and Theme and Variations, often partnered by Edward Villella, who equaled her vivacity and technical aplomb on stage.

Recognizing her musicality and kinesthetic intelligence, Balanchine created numerous parts for her over the years, including leading roles in Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux (1960), The Figure in the Carpet (1960), Liebeslieder Walzer (1960), A Midsummer Night's Dream (1962), Emeralds (1967), Glinkaiana (1967), La Source (1968), Pulcinella (1972), and Sonatine (1973).

Since its premiere, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux has been performed by many ballerinas in numerous international companies, but few have come close to the musicality, wit, and technical bravura of Verdy's original interpretation.

Master tapes are housed in the Jerome Robbins Dance Division of the New York Public Library for the Performing arts, and copies are made available to research repositories around the world.