Born Patricia Lorrain-Ann White in
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, Wilde was raised with her two older sisters on their single mother's rugged family estate until its land was appropriated by the Canadian government. At 13, she came to
New York City with her sister Nora to study at the
School of American Ballet. She began her career a year later with American Concert Ballet and went on to perform with International Ballet of the
Marquis de Cuevas, and
Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo where she remained as principal dancer for four years during which time she worked extensively with George Balanchine, who was serving as the
Ballets Russes' chief choreographer at the time. Following Balanchine's departure, Wilde took off to further her ballet study in Europe. While there she spent a year working with
Ballet Roland Petit and Ballet Metropolitan of England before being recruited by Balanchine in 1950 to join his newly formed
New York City Ballet. At City Ballet, emboldened by the fact that "I can ask her to do anything", Balanchine created over 18 original roles for her, including the Highland Girl in
Scotch Symphony, the Pas de Trois in
Swan Lake, and Glinka Pas de Trois, Square Dance, Waltz-Scherzo, Native Dancers, and
Raymonda Variations. As a star, Wilde toured with the company internationally to critical acclaim on the stages of the world's legendary theaters:
the Bolshoi,
the Kirov,
La Scala,
Covent Garden, and the
Paris Opera as well as in the
Philippines,
Japan, and
Australia. Wilde left City Ballet in 1965 to start a family though she remained active in dance as a teacher and coach. That same year, she was invited by Rebecca Harkness to become the director of the
Harkness Ballet School. She left Harkness to teach at the
School of American Ballet and at the request of Balanchine, to assist him in forming the school of
Ballet de Grand Théâtre de Genève. In 1969 she was appointed ballet mistress and company teacher for
American Ballet Theatre and then the director of its school. While directing the school at ABT, Wilde molded the early careers of
Cynthia Harvey,
Susan Jaffe, Gregory Osborne, Peter Fonseca, and
Lawrence Pech. Acknowledged as one of the first to achieve and conquer the blistering speed which Balanchine demanded in his works, Wilde's teaching was considered essential to understanding his style. In 1982, she was recruited as the artistic director of
Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, the fourth director in the company's history. During her time at PBT she expanded the repertoire to include the works of Balanchine, Fokine, Tudor, Nijinska, Ashton, Paul Taylor, and the 19th-century classics. Additionally she grew the company's school and financial coffers, established a dancer retirement fund, oversaw the building of new headquarters, and nurtured the choreographic career of
Ohad Naharin. Wilde stepped down as PBT's director in 1997. She served as a highly regarded master teacher around the world. ==Awards and recognition==