Ethan Stiefel - Artistic Director
Ethan Stiefel, born in Pennsylvania, U.S.A, joined Royal New
Zealand Ballet as Artistic Director in September 2011. Prior to
joining RNZB, he served as Dean of the School of Dance at the
University of North Carolina School of the Arts.
A Principal Dancer with American Ballet Theatre, Stiefel began
his dance studies in Madison, Wisconsin. His early teachers
included Paul Sutherland, Ted Kivitt and Marcia Dale Weary. He was
awarded a full scholarship at the School of American Ballet, where
he studied under Stanley Williams and then studied with Mikhail
Baryshnikov at his School of Classical Ballet.
Stiefel began his professional career at age 16 with the New
York City Ballet where he quickly rose to the rank of Principal
Dancer. He was also a Principal Dancer with the Zürich Ballet and
joined American Ballet Theatre in 1997. His repertoire of
full-length works includes Florimund (The Sleeping Beauty)
Siegfried (Swan Lake), Romeo (Romeo and Juliet),
Albrecht (Giselle), Lescaut (Manon), Lenski
(Onegin), Jeanne (Raymonda), Colas (La Fille
Mal Gardee), Solor (La Bayadere), Oberon (A
Midsummer Night's Dream), Cassio (Othello), Basilio
(Don Quixote), Franz (Coppelia), Conrad and the
Slave (Le Corsaire). He has appeared in a wide variety of
shorter works, including ballets by George Balanchine, Jerome
Robbins, Michel Fokine, William Forsythe, Lar Lubovitch, Nils
Christe, Paul Taylor, Mark Morris, Jiri Kylian, August
Bournonville, Bob Fosse, Antony Tudor, Christopher Wheeldon, Eugene
Loring, Peter Martins, Nacho Duato, Frederick Ashton and Twyla
Tharp. He made his debut with London's Royal Ballet in Twyla
Tharp's Junk Man pas de deux and returned frequently as a
guest dancing the roles of Franz, Solor, Colas, Albrecht, Lenski,
the Prince in a new production of Sleeping Beauty and
In the Middle, Somewhat Elevated by William Forsythe. The
Mariinsky Ballet (Kirov) first invited him to dance Apollo
in St. Petersburg and he later returned performing the role of
Solor. Other guest appearances include the Australian Ballet,
Zürich Ballet, Munich Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, The National Ballet
of Canada, Teatro Colon, and tours in the United States, Japan,
Russia and throughout Europe.
He starred in the feature film Centre Stage, and
returned to play the role of Cooper Nielsen in Centre Stage 2-
Turn It Up. Stiefel's television and video credits include The
Dream, Le Corsaire, Die Fledermaus and the documentary,
Born to be Wild.
Stiefel has been a guest teacher for many institutions including
the American Ballet Theatre II, American Ballet Theatre Jacqueline
Kennedy Onassis School, The National Ballet of Canada and The Royal
Ballet School. He recently staged and choreographed a new version
of The Nutcracker for UNCSA.
He has received several awards, throughout his career. In 1999,
His Royal Highness Crown Prince Albert of Monaco presented Stiefel
with the Statue Award of the Princess Grace Foundation, the
foundations highest honour. He received the prestigious Dance
Magazine Award in December 2008. Additionally, Stiefel was a juror
for the Prix de Lausanne in 2001 and served on the selection
committee for the 2010 International Ballet Competition held in
Jackson, Mississippi.