Artistic Director Kevin McKenzie revealed in an announcement that Ethan Stiefel at the end of the 2012 Metropolitan Opera House season will retire. Stiefel has danced with American Ballet Theatre since 1997.
The Metropolitan Opera House offers the biggest platform for artistic expression to creative and talented individuals from all over the world opening its doors for a season each year. The 2012 season will have Ethan Stiefel; on Saturday the 7th of July interpret Ali of ABT’s Le Corsaire production. Ethan Stiefel will use the Opera House stage to give his farewells to his fans and followers and also to the artistic community. He is a very well known and respected ballet dancer whose love for the art started from very young age when at only eight years of age, started taking dance lessons in Madison, Wisconsin. He obtained a degree in Ballet from the Milwaukee Ballet School and the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet after which on a scholarship, he attended both the School of American Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre School of Classical Ballet in New York, and at the age of only 16 he adhered to New York City Ballet.
In 1997, Stiefel joined the American Ballet theatre as a lead dancer and is remembered for performing in plays that include George Balanchine’s Mozartiana, Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux, Allegro Brillante and theme and Variations. His center stage role gave him the recognition of “the greatest ballet dancer in the world”, but was also the inspiration for the movie “Center Stage” which came out in, a film directed by Nicholas Hytner and choreography by Susan Stroman. Stiefel plays the role of a ballet boy, Cooper Nielson, whose dare devil attitude and dancing skills wins him the heart of Jody Sawyer (a young ballet dancer played by San Francisco Ballet’s former dancer, Amanda Schull).
Ethan Stiefel has had a very successful career as a ballet dancer. He obtained many different awards for the art such as in 1989, a silver medal at the Prix the Lausanne. In 1991, he was awarded the Princess Grace Foundation-USA emergent artist grant, and in 2008 obtained the Dance Magazine Award. Between 2007 -2011, he was dean of dance at the North Carolina School of the Arts, and from 2011, he was appointed Director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.
Some of Ethan Stiefel performances during his time spent at the American Ballet Theatre include: Afternoon of a Faun, Ben Stevenson’s Cinderella, Apollo, and Petrouchka, Billy the Kid, and the Dream where he played Oberon. For his retirement from American Ballet Theatre, Stiefel acknowledge that it is a difficult decision to take after so many wonderful memories and is grateful to everyone who has played a part in his successful career, but will still continue to contribute to the art through other invaluable opportunities.
