Erick Hawkins, 85, Colleague Of Balanchine, Martha Graham

NEW YORK - Choreographer Erick Hawkins, who broke ground in dancing with George Balanchine and Martha Graham and later led his own dance company, died Wednesday of prostate cancer. He was 85.

Mr. Hawkins' long career included a stint as the first American student at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet.

He met Graham in 1936 and was the first male dancer to join her company. He created roles in some of her best-known works, including "El Penitente" and "Appalachian Spring."

President Clinton awarded Hawkins the National Medal of Arts last month, saying his "unique talent has been to place dance in a larger cultural and philosophical context."

Mr. Hawkins was born in 1909 in Trinidad, Colo. After graduating from Harvard University, he studied modern dance with Harald Kreutzberg and then with Balanchine.

He danced in the corps of opera ballets staged by Balanchine at the Metropolitan Opera and became a charter member of the Ballet Caravan, now the New York City Ballet.

Mr. Hawkins and Graham married in 1948. The couple separated in the early 1950s and later divorced.

Mr. Hawkins established his own school and company in 1951. He danced with the company until 1976 and taught until shortly before his death.

He is survived by his wife, Lucia Dlugoszewski, a composer and his longtime collaborator.