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Leslie Browne, 20. Soloist, American Ballet Theater. More people have watched the auburn-haired Browne perform in The Turning Point than may ever see her in person. Her lucky casting in the film as an aspiring ballerina who rises to partnership with Baryshnikov not only made her a celebrity but also prompted her to take acting and singing lessons—though only for a while. She is not interested in an acting career and has refused several film offers. Dance remains her passion: "I love the physicality of it all." Like Emilia in The Turning Point, she is the daughter of two dancers who ran a small ballet school. Her special gifts are a flowing lyricism and a knack for acting. Like Gelsey, Leslie moved through the School of American Ballet and Balanchine's company before joining A.B.T. But Leslie's drive is in slightly lower gear: "Being a star is not what I started out looking for. My only ambition is to be the best I can be."
George de la Pena, 22. Soloist, American Ballet Theater. The slight (5 ft. 9 in., 140 lbs.) De la Pena's long suit is a powerful sense of theater. At A.B.T. he has danced such roles as the Bluebird in Sleeping Beauty, a sailor in Fancy Free and the Nutcracker prince. A high point came last year when he played the old dollmaker in Coppélia. A curtain-time substitute, he gave a dark, almost mystical performance that New York balletomanes still prize.