Susan Jaffe
Encyclopedia
Susan Jaffe, was an American ballerina
and is a ballet mistress at American Ballet Theatre
.
Susan Jaffe studied ballet
at the Maryland School of Ballet, the School of American Ballet
, and the American Ballet Theatre
(ABT) School{ }. At age 16 she became a member of ABT II, and joined ABT's corps de ballet at age 18. Mikhail Baryshnikov, ABT's Artistic Director at the time, pulled Jaffe out of the corps de ballet to replace Gelsey Kirkland
in a gala performance. With two days of rehearsal, Jaffe danced Pas d'Esclave at the Kennedy Center in Washington with the late Alexander Godunov
, a Bolshoi Ballet
star whose former partner had been Maya Plisetskaya
. Jaffe remained a principal dancer with ABT for the following 22 years.
Jaffe danced many roles: Odette/Odile (she danced her first Swan Lake
at the age of 19), Kitri (Don Quixote
), Nikiya & Gamzatti (La Bayadère
), Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet
), Swanhilda (Coppélia
), Tatiana (John Cranko's Eugene Onegin
), Kate (Taming of the Shrew), and the title roles in Giselle
, La Sylphide
and Kenneth MacMillan
's Anastasia and Manon. Ms. Jaffe worked with and performed the repertoire of many of the 20th century's most prominent choreographers, including George Balanchine
(Apollo
, Mozartiana, Who Cares?
, Theme & Variations, Ballet Imperial, Violin Concerto, La Sonnambula
, and Bourree Fantasque; and as a guest artist with New York City Ballet
where she danced Western Symphony
and the finale of Symphony in C), Antony Tudor
(Jardin aux Lilas, Undertow, Gala Performance, Dim Lustre), Kenneth MacMillan (Manon, The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo & Juliet, Requiem), Jerome Robbins
(Afternoon of a Faun, Other Dances, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz), Agnes de Mille
(Fall River Legend
), Roland Petit
(Carmen
), Twyla Tharp
(Push Comes to Shove, Everlast, Sextet, How Near Heaven, Bach Partita, Americans We, Known By Heart), Nacho Duato
(Without Words), Jiří Kylián
(Stepping Stones) and James Kudelka
(Cruel World, States of Grace).
Jaffe was partnered by such danseurs nobles as Julio Bocca
, Carlos Molina
, Marcelo Gomes
, Guillaume Graffin, Ethan Stiefel
, Robert Hill, Victor Barbee, and Jose Manuel Carreño
.
While still dancing with ABT, Jaffe became an international guest artist for the Royal Opera House
of Covent Garden, the Mariinsky Theatre
, English National Ballet
, La Scala
Ballet in Milan, Bavarian State Opera
, Royal Danish Ballet
, Royal Swedish Ballet
, Stuttgart Ballet
, and the Vienna State Opera Ballet
.
Jaffe was Advisor to the Chairman of ABT's Board of Governing Trustees, 2002–2007, and is on the faculty of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, which she joined in 2002. Jaffe co-founded Long Island University's educational initiative for the dancers of American Ballet Theatre. Jaffe lectures for Duke Corporate Education
on "Excellence." In 2003, she became founding partner and co-director of the Princeton Dance & Theater Studio, and Dance Vision Youth Ensemble in Princeton, N.J., where her role is Co-Artistic Director and Choreographer. She gives master classes throughout the United States and Japan. She also guest teaches the dancers of American Ballet Theatre.
Susan Jaffe is a Dance Magazine
awardee, and was invited to join Dance Magazine to co-produce and host the weekly television show Dance New York. She has been featured multiple times on the PBS series Dance in America; in the movie Angie, starring Geena Davis
; and in the Frederick Wiseman
documentary Ballet. In 2002, Jaffe was a guest on the Charlie Rose Show, where she discussed her retirement from the stage. In 2003, her book for children 7 to 13, Becoming a Ballerina, was published by Universe.
Jaffe has choreographed for dance companies and universities internationally. In 2007, she joined Configuration Dance Theatre Artistic Director Joseph Cipolla, and Resident Choreographer, Michael Shannon, as Principal Guest Choreographer and Member of the National Advisory Board. Configuration Dance Theatre has premiered three Jaffe works in New York, Velez Pas de Deux in Fall 2007, Novem Pas de Deux in Spring 2008, and Royenne Pas de Deux in Spring 2009. In the Fall of 2008 Jaffe's work, Uncaged, was premiered in concert at the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University
in Fort Worth. She created Pulse as Guest Choreographer at Princeton University
in 2010.
For Anna Kisselgoff's article written on Jaffe's retirement, see the New York Times: Critic's Notebook: An American Mix of Flair And Form
On Dec. 18, 2010, Jaffe was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Texas Christian University.
Ballerina
A ballerina is a title used to describe a principal female professional ballet dancer in a large company; the male equivalent to this title is danseur or ballerino...
and is a ballet mistress at American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
.
Susan Jaffe studied ballet
Ballet
Ballet is a type of performance dance, that originated in the Italian Renaissance courts of the 15th century, and which was further developed in France and Russia as a concert dance form. The early portions preceded the invention of the proscenium stage and were presented in large chambers with...
at the Maryland School of Ballet, the School of American Ballet
School of American Ballet
The School of American Ballet is one of the most famous classical ballet schools in the world and is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a leading international ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the...
, and the American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre
American Ballet Theatre , based in New York City, was one of the foremost ballet companies of the 20th century. It continues as a leading dance company in the world today...
(ABT) School{ }. At age 16 she became a member of ABT II, and joined ABT's corps de ballet at age 18. Mikhail Baryshnikov, ABT's Artistic Director at the time, pulled Jaffe out of the corps de ballet to replace Gelsey Kirkland
Gelsey Kirkland
Gelsey Kirkland is an American ballerina. Kirkland joined the New York City Ballet in 1968 at age fifteen, at the invitation of George Balanchine. She was promoted to soloist in 1969 and principal in 1972...
in a gala performance. With two days of rehearsal, Jaffe danced Pas d'Esclave at the Kennedy Center in Washington with the late Alexander Godunov
Alexander Godunov
Alexander Borisovich Godunov was a Russian-American ballet danseur and film actor, whose defection caused a diplomatic incident between the USA and the USSR.-Biography:...
, a Bolshoi Ballet
Bolshoi Ballet
The Bolshoi Ballet is an internationally renowned classical ballet company, based at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow, Russia. Founded in 1776, the Bolshoi is among the world's oldest ballet companies, however it only achieved worldwide acclaim by the early 20th century, when Moscow became the...
star whose former partner had been Maya Plisetskaya
Maya Plisetskaya
Maya Mikhailovna Plisetskaya , born is a Russian ballet dancer, frequently cited as one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Maya danced during the Soviet era at the same time as the great Galina Ulanova, and took over from her as prima ballerina assoluta of the Bolshoi in 1960...
. Jaffe remained a principal dancer with ABT for the following 22 years.
Jaffe danced many roles: Odette/Odile (she danced her first Swan Lake
Swan Lake
Swan Lake ballet, op. 20, by Pyotr Tchaikovsky, composed 1875–1876. The scenario, initially in four acts, was fashioned from Russian folk tales and tells the story of Odette, a princess turned into a swan by an evil sorcerer's curse. The choreographer of the original production was Julius Reisinger...
at the age of 19), Kitri (Don Quixote
Don Quixote (ballet)
Don Quixote is a ballet originally staged in four acts and eight scenes, based on an episode taken from the famous novel Don Quixote de la Mancha by Miguel de Cervantes. It was originally choreographed by Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus and was first presented by the Ballet of the...
), Nikiya & Gamzatti (La Bayadère
La Bayadère
La Bayadère is a ballet, originally staged in four acts and seven tableaux by French choreographer Marius Petipa to the music of Ludwig Minkus. La Bayadère was first performed by the Imperial Ballet at the Imperial Bolshoi Kamenny Theatre in St. Petersburg, Russia, on...
), Aurora (The Sleeping Beauty), Juliet (Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet
Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy written early in the career of playwright William Shakespeare about two young star-crossed lovers whose deaths ultimately unite their feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's most popular archetypal stories of young, teenage lovers.Romeo and Juliet belongs to a...
), Swanhilda (Coppélia
Coppélia
Coppélia is a sentimental comic ballet with original choreography by Arthur Saint-Léon to a ballet libretto by Saint-Léon and Charles Nuitter and music by Léo Delibes. It was based upon two macabre stories by E. T. A. Hoffmann, Der Sandmann , and Die Puppe...
), Tatiana (John Cranko's Eugene Onegin
Eugene Onegin (opera)
Eugene Onegin, Op. 24, is an opera in 3 acts , by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. The libretto was written by Konstantin Shilovsky and the composer and his brother Modest, and is based on the novel in verse by Alexander Pushkin....
), Kate (Taming of the Shrew), and the title roles in Giselle
Giselle
Giselle is a ballet in two acts with a libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Théophile Gautier, music by Adolphe Adam, and choreography by Jean Coralli and Jules Perrot. The librettist took his inspiration from a poem by Heinrich Heine...
, La Sylphide
La Sylphide
La Sylphide is one of the world's oldest surviving romantic ballets. There were two versions of the ballet; the version choreographed by the Danish balletmaster August Bournonville is the only version known to have survived....
and Kenneth MacMillan
Kenneth MacMillan
Sir Kenneth MacMillan was a British ballet dancer and choreographer. He was artistic director of the Royal Ballet in London between 1970 and 1977.-Early years:...
's Anastasia and Manon. Ms. Jaffe worked with and performed the repertoire of many of the 20th century's most prominent choreographers, including George Balanchine
George Balanchine
George Balanchine , born Giorgi Balanchivadze in Saint Petersburg, Russia, to a Georgian father and a Russian mother, was one of the 20th century's most famous choreographers, a developer of ballet in the United States, co-founder and balletmaster of New York City Ballet...
(Apollo
Apollo
Apollo is one of the most important and complex of the Olympian deities in Greek and Roman mythology...
, Mozartiana, Who Cares?
Who Cares? (ballet)
Who Cares? is a ballet made by New York City Ballet's co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to the songs of George Gershwin in an orchestration by Hershy Kay...
, Theme & Variations, Ballet Imperial, Violin Concerto, La Sonnambula
La sonnambula
La sonnambula is an opera semiseria in two acts, with music in the bel canto tradition by Vincenzo Bellini to an Italian libretto by Felice Romani, based on a scenario for a ballet-pantomime by Eugène Scribe and Jean-Pierre Aumer called La somnambule, ou L'arrivée d'un nouveau seigneur.The first...
, and Bourree Fantasque; and as a guest artist with New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet
New York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Leon Barzin was the company's first music director. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company...
where she danced Western Symphony
Western Symphony
Western Symphony is a ballet made by New York City Ballet co-founder and founding choreographer George Balanchine to music arranged by Hershy Kay. The premiere, Tuesday, September 7th, 1954, at City Center of Music and Drama, New York, was conducted by Leon Barzin and presented in practice clothes...
and the finale of Symphony in C), Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor
Antony Tudor was an English ballet choreographer, teacher and dancer.-Biography:Tudor, born William Cook, discovered dance accidentally. He began dancing professionally with Marie Rambert in 1928, becoming general assistant for her Ballet Club the next year...
(Jardin aux Lilas, Undertow, Gala Performance, Dim Lustre), Kenneth MacMillan (Manon, The Sleeping Beauty, Romeo & Juliet, Requiem), Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins
Jerome Robbins was an American theater producer, director, and choreographer known primarily for Broadway Theater and Ballet/Dance, but who also occasionally directed films and directed/produced for television. His work has included everything from classical ballet to contemporary musical theater...
(Afternoon of a Faun, Other Dances, N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz), Agnes de Mille
Agnes de Mille
Agnes George de Mille was an American dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Agnes de Mille was born in New York City into a well-connected family of theater professionals. Her father William C. deMille and her uncle Cecil B. DeMille were both Hollywood directors...
(Fall River Legend
Fall River Legend
Fall River Legend is a ballet based on the life of Lizzie Borden. One of choreographer Agnes de Mille's best-known works, it featured an original score by Morton Gould, lighting design by Jean Rosenthal and scenic design by Oliver Smith....
), Roland Petit
Roland Petit
Roland Petit was a French choreographer and dancer born in Villemomble, near Paris, France. He trained at the Paris Opéra Ballet school, and became well known for his creative ballets.-Biography:...
(Carmen
Carmen
Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin...
), Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp
Twyla Tharp is an American dancer and choreographer, who lives and works in New York City.-Early years:Tharp was born in 1941 on a farm in Portland, Indiana, and was named after Twila Thornburg, the "Pig Princess" of the 89th Annual Muncie Fair in Indiana.she spend hours working on it to help her...
(Push Comes to Shove, Everlast, Sextet, How Near Heaven, Bach Partita, Americans We, Known By Heart), Nacho Duato
Nacho Duato
Juan Ignacio Duato Bárcia, also known as Nacho Duato is a Spanish modern ballet dancer and choreographer. After a long and successful career, he was selected by the Spanish Ministry of Culture and Education as the artistic director of the National Spanish Dance Company in June 1990...
(Without Words), Jiří Kylián
Jiří Kylián
Jiří Kylián is a Czech dance choreographer.Kylián studied in Prague and, at the age of 20, won a scholarship at the Royal Ballet School in London. He joined the Stuttgart Ballet in 1968 and worked under John Cranko, where he began to choreograph. Kylián became Artistic Director of Nederlands Dans...
(Stepping Stones) and James Kudelka
James Kudelka
James Kudelka, OC, , is a choreographer, dancer, and director. He was the artistic director for the National Ballet of Canada from 1996 to 2005, now serving as the National Ballet's artist in residence....
(Cruel World, States of Grace).
Jaffe was partnered by such danseurs nobles as Julio Bocca
Julio Bocca
Julio Bocca is one of the most important ballet dancers of the later part of the 20th century and arguably the most important Argentine dancer of all time....
, Carlos Molina
Carlos Molina
Carlos Molina is an undefeated Mexican-American professional boxer in the Lightweight division. He's also the brother of two Olympic Boxers Javier for the U.S...
, Marcelo Gomes
Marcelo Gomes (dancer)
Marcelo Gomes is a Principal Dancer with the American Ballet Theatre. He first joined the company in 1997 as a member of the Corps de Ballet, and was promoted to Soloist in 2000 and Principal in 2002....
, Guillaume Graffin, Ethan Stiefel
Ethan Stiefel
Ethan Stiefel is a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre . His fiance is Gillian Murphy, also a principal dancer with ABT.-Biography:...
, Robert Hill, Victor Barbee, and Jose Manuel Carreño
Jose Manuel Carreño
José Manuel Carreño is a retired Cuban ballet dancer, who performed as a principal dancer with the English National Ballet, Royal Ballet and American Ballet Theatre....
.
While still dancing with ABT, Jaffe became an international guest artist for the Royal Opera House
Royal Opera House
The Royal Opera House is an opera house and major performing arts venue in Covent Garden, central London. The large building is often referred to as simply "Covent Garden", after a previous use of the site of the opera house's original construction in 1732. It is the home of The Royal Opera, The...
of Covent Garden, the Mariinsky Theatre
Mariinsky Theatre
The Mariinsky Theatre is a historic theatre of opera and ballet in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Opened in 1860, it became the preeminent music theatre of late 19th century Russia, where many of the stage masterpieces of Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky, and Rimsky-Korsakov received their premieres. The...
, English National Ballet
English National Ballet
English National Ballet is a classical ballet company founded by Dame Alicia Markova and Sir Anton Dolin and based at Markova House in South Kensington, London, England. Along with the Royal Ballet, Birmingham Royal Ballet and Scottish Ballet, it is one of the four major ballet companies in Great...
, La Scala
La Scala
La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala...
Ballet in Milan, Bavarian State Opera
Bavarian State Opera
The Bavarian State Opera is an opera company based in Munich, Germany.Its orchestra is the Bavarian State Orchestra.- History:The opera company which was founded under Princess Henriette Adelaide of Savoy has been in existence since 1653...
, Royal Danish Ballet
Royal Danish Ballet
The Royal Danish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in the world. Based in Copenhagen, Denmark, it originates from 1748, when the Royal Danish Theatre was founded, and was finally organized in 1771 in response to the great popularity of French and Italian styles of dance...
, Royal Swedish Ballet
Royal Swedish Ballet
The Royal Swedish Ballet is one of the oldest ballet companies in Europe. Based in Stockholm, Sweden, King Gustav III founded the ballet in 1773 as a part of his national cultural project in response to the French and Italian dominance in this field; he also founded the Royal Swedish Opera and the...
, Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart Ballet
Stuttgart Ballet was the first major German ballet company. It rose to fame in the 1960s under Artistic Director John Cranko. The company, which is renowned for presentations of full-length narrative ballets including Romeo and Juliet, Eugene Onegin, The Taming of the Shrew, John Neumeier's Die...
, and the Vienna State Opera Ballet
Vienna State Opera Ballet
The Vienna State Opera Ballet, like the opera company, is based at the Vienna State Opera House in Vienna, Austria. The original building was destroyed by Allied bombing in 1945....
.
Jaffe was Advisor to the Chairman of ABT's Board of Governing Trustees, 2002–2007, and is on the faculty of the Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School, which she joined in 2002. Jaffe co-founded Long Island University's educational initiative for the dancers of American Ballet Theatre. Jaffe lectures for Duke Corporate Education
Duke Corporate Education
Duke Corporate Education is a global provider of non-degree custom executive education and other learning and development services. They are a not-for-profit support corporation to Duke University, having been created in July 2000 as a carve-out from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business...
on "Excellence." In 2003, she became founding partner and co-director of the Princeton Dance & Theater Studio, and Dance Vision Youth Ensemble in Princeton, N.J., where her role is Co-Artistic Director and Choreographer. She gives master classes throughout the United States and Japan. She also guest teaches the dancers of American Ballet Theatre.
Susan Jaffe is a Dance Magazine
Dance Magazine
Dance Magazine is an "influential" American trade publication for dance, currently published by the Macfadden Communications Group. It was first published in June 1927 as The American Dancer. William Como was its editor-in-chief from 1970 to his death in 1989. Wendy Perron became its editor-in...
awardee, and was invited to join Dance Magazine to co-produce and host the weekly television show Dance New York. She has been featured multiple times on the PBS series Dance in America; in the movie Angie, starring Geena Davis
Geena Davis
Virginia Elizabeth "Geena" Davis is an American actress, film producer, writer, former fashion model, and a women's Olympics archery team semi-finalist...
; and in the Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman
Frederick Wiseman is an American documentary filmmaker. He came to documentary filmmaking after first being trained as a lawyer...
documentary Ballet. In 2002, Jaffe was a guest on the Charlie Rose Show, where she discussed her retirement from the stage. In 2003, her book for children 7 to 13, Becoming a Ballerina, was published by Universe.
Jaffe has choreographed for dance companies and universities internationally. In 2007, she joined Configuration Dance Theatre Artistic Director Joseph Cipolla, and Resident Choreographer, Michael Shannon, as Principal Guest Choreographer and Member of the National Advisory Board. Configuration Dance Theatre has premiered three Jaffe works in New York, Velez Pas de Deux in Fall 2007, Novem Pas de Deux in Spring 2008, and Royenne Pas de Deux in Spring 2009. In the Fall of 2008 Jaffe's work, Uncaged, was premiered in concert at the School for Classical & Contemporary Dance at Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University
Texas Christian University is a private, coeducational university located in Fort Worth, Texas, United States and founded in 1873. TCU is affiliated with, but not governed by, the Disciples of Christ...
in Fort Worth. She created Pulse as Guest Choreographer at Princeton University
Princeton University
Princeton University is a private research university located in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. The school is one of the eight universities of the Ivy League, and is one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution....
in 2010.
For Anna Kisselgoff's article written on Jaffe's retirement, see the New York Times: Critic's Notebook: An American Mix of Flair And Form
On Dec. 18, 2010, Jaffe was awarded an honorary Doctor of Arts degree by Texas Christian University.