The petite Willow Glen resident, who used to trip because she was nearsighted, once danced with the New York City Ballet that was known for its "bullet feet." Forty years after ending her professional career to start a family, Mohr is returning to New York, where she spent 12 years as a ballet soloist under legendary ballet choreographer George Balanchine.

To celebrate the centennial anniversary of Balanchine's birth, the New York City Ballet is calling its entire alumni home for a May 1 reception that honors his work. Trained in Russia, Balanchine brought his renowned ballet techniques to America, where he co-founded the New York City Ballet, eventually choreographing almost 400 ballets for the company.

"You knew you were in the presence of genius," says Mohr, even though she was only 18 years old when she was approached by Balanchine to join the company. "You were so honored to be in the same room."

Mohr remembers her awe at being surrounded by great artists during the production of Balanchine's ballet Firebird. He enlisted Igor Stravinsky to compose the music and Marc Chagall to design the décor.

"You think being young will last forever," says Mohr, who danced professionally from 1950 to 1962.

She has wonderful memories of working with Balanchine, who continually challenged the dancers so that their "jumps were higher, precision sparkling."

Balanchine valued his dancers and would often incorporate a movement they created during rehearsals into the show, she adds.

While working with Balanchine was an honor, it was not the first time she had been trained by ballet masters. As the only child of a jeweler who valued the arts, she had studied with Serge Oukransky, who was Anna Pavlova's partner, and Bronislava Nijinska, sister of the Russian sensation Vaslav Nijinsky.

Although she had the best teachers, Mohr says that becoming a professional dancer is 90 percent hard work and 10 percent talent.

"It's the people who work for it that go into it," she says.

And once she left the professional ballet world in 1962, she wanted to teach people of different ages and skill levels that they could also be dancers. Mohr and her family relocated to California, and she opened the International Ballet School in Campbell 30 years ago.

"All have innate grace," she says. "You have to get it out of your own way."

She sounds like a ballet mistress when she recites, "Dance is line, line, line. If you can't copy it, it's not beautiful."

She also does not let any hurdle hinder a willing ballet student, as was the case when she helped a 52-year-old woman dance in toe shoes and a high school sophomore girl who she termed "ill-shaped."

Mohr says that the teenager was so motivated that she went on to join the Sacramento Ballet.

Mohr has trained everyone, from people who replaced aerobics with ballet, to young women who wanted to improve their posture, to professional ballerinas. One of her protégés is now with Ballet San Jose Silicon Valley.

She says it's difficult to stay in a ballet company, and ballerinas need to also learn how to sing, act and dance modern and jazz.

Although she hasn't been in a ballet company for many years, "young people are still interested in getting my input. It's an exchange. They want what I can give them and want to get into companies," she says. "This is my life."