of contemporary music, working often with composer John Adams. His autobiography, Far From Denmark was published in 1982. Martins was named Man of the Year by the Danish American Society, 1980. His exercise regimen, titled NYCB Workout and designed with the New York Sports Club, first appeared in book form in 1997, with a DVD and a sequel produced later. Martins was inducted into the National Museum of Dance's Mr. & Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney Hall of Fame in 2008. Personal life Martins had a longterm romantic relationship with Heather Watts during her career as a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet. John Clifford, a principal dancer and choreographer under George Balanchine, recalled "I saw him pick her up and slam her into a cement wall." In ballerina Gelsey Kirkland's book Dancing on My Grave (1986), she describes Martins dragging Watts up and down a flight of stairs. He was first married to Lise la Cour, a ballerina he danced with at the Royal Ballet of Denmark. He had a child with her, Nilas. They met while they were both with the Royal Danish Ballet and after their divorce, he was a guest-artist with the New York City Ballet and eventually moved to America to dance with the latter company full-time. Nilas eventually followed his father to America, to New York City and to the New York City Ballet. In July 1992, Martins was arrested and held for five hours after his 28-year-old wife of seven months, New York City Ballet principal ballerina Darci Kistler, phoned the police for help. His wife filed an affidavit accusing him of assaulting her, pushing and slapping her, and cutting and bruising her arms and legs and continuing to hit her after she fell under his attack. He was charged with third-degree assault (a misdemeanor). Kistler dropped the charges a few days later, saying she preferred to resolve the matter without the court's intervention. When she next performed in a ballet two days later, she reportedly wore heavy makeup to conceal bruises she had suffered. Several people who knew the two well claimed it wasn't the first time Martins had hit her. Peter Wolff, a member of the school’s board of directors, said that the assault charge was "a personal matter", would not affect Martins’ career, and that it had "nothing to do with his competency or his support in the ballet