Suki Schorer, former principal dancer with NYCB

[violet]

We all know that Suki Schorer teachers ballet at SAB, but what about her time as a dancer with NYCB? I can't find very much information about her then. She was a principal dancer so she must of been good, but you never hear about her like you do Danilova, Adams, or the rest. Can anyone tell me something of her life as a dancer?

[Juliet]

Well, she's certainly around and about, so why don't you write to her c/o School of American Ballet, 70 Lincoln Center Plaza, NY, NY 10023-6594. Or you could check with the NYCB Press office, of course.

[Paul Parish]

If you want to get a look for yourself, check out the old movie of Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream. Ms Schorer was wonderful as the head fairy in the Scherzo.

[sz]

If you want to get a look for yourself, check out the old movie of Balanchine's Midsummer Night's Dream. Ms Schorer was wonderful as the head fairy in the Scherzo.

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In that wonderful film, yes, you'll see Ms. Schorer as the lead butterfly in Act 1, wearing a pale blue costume avec wings(!). Edward Velella is the brilliant Oberon in the same Scherzo. Ms. Schorer also dances as one of the Divertessment couples in Act 2. It'll be a fine opportunity for you to see much of Ms. Schorer's personality, as well as technical style.

[dido]

She also includes a fair number of (non self-aggrandizing, modest, but revealing) anecdotes about her own dancing in "Suki Shorer On Balancine Technique" (also a tremendously entertaining/enlightening book in it's own right."

One fragment (from memory): Balanchine took all the butterflies except for her off pointe in Midsummer because they couldn't keep their pointes quiet.

[violet]

I will definitely have to check out that film! But it's only in New York, right? And also I am planning on buying the book.

[Helene]

Is it not Schorer in "The Unanswered Question" excerpt in the PBS Balanchine biography?

[BalletNut]

Yes, that was Schorer, with Lamont.

[Gina Ness]

Do you know that Ms. Schorer originally trained and danced with SFB (Lew Christensen) before she went to New York?

[BalletNut]

Which ballets did she dance in San Francisco?

[Gina Ness]

I just got out my old SFB 50th Anniversary book. It lists Ms. Schorer as joining the company in 1957. I do not know the year she left for New York. I was a student at SFB from 1966-1969 and joined the company in 1972. She was gone when I arrived in '66. But, she had a reputation (from what I heard) of being a very good dancer. I believe she danced quite a few principal roles although I'm not certain if she was a principal dancer on the company's roster. She was probably a soloist. When I am able to access any of my old programs she might be in, I'll try to clarify her position in a future posting. The only listing in a principal role I can find in my book is Lew Christensen's "Emperor Norton" (1957). Second casts are not listed in this book for other works, only opening night casts for ballet premieres. 1957 - 1959 were the years of international touring for SFB. The 22 dancer company traveled on a State Department sponsored 11-nation tour of the Far East. In looking at the dancers of this era (mid 50s to mid 60s), I see many names you will be familiar with such as Conrad Ludlow, Jocelyn Vollmar, Michael Smuin, Robert Vickrey, Kent Stowell, Paula Tracy, Terry Orr, Finis Jhung, Sue Loyd, Cynthia Gregory...As you can see, Lew lost some of his brightest and best to the East Coast and beyond.

[dido]

I see many names you will be familiar with such as Conrad Ludlow, Jocelyn Vollmar, Michael Smuin, Robert Vickrey, Kent Stowell, Paula Tracy, Terry Orr, Finis Jhung, Sue Loyd, Cynthia Gregory...

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Holy cow! Thank you Ms Ness for giving some of the whippersnappers (i.e. me) on this board some perspective on the ballet world. I read all the history I can, and while many aspects of ballet history frequently floor me for different reasons there is nothing like an eyewitness account from those who were there (and still are). Thank you again.

[Premabalrina]

Correct me if i'm wrong, but I don't believe that Suki was ever a principal dancer with NYCB.

[violet]

I don't know, but here is what is says on the SAB website:

"Suki Schorer began her professional career with the San Francisco Ballet and joined the New York City Ballet in 1959, becoming a principal dancer in 1968. Her repertory included principal roles in Apollo, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C, Stars and Stripes, Tarantella and Jewels among others. Balanchine choreographed solo roles on her in Don Quixote, Raymonda Variations, Harlequinade, and A Midsummer Night's Dream. "

[Gina Ness]

Well, there it is, then. She was a principal dancer with NYCB...Did anyone catch her a couple of years ago in an add for (I believe) Fosamax on television. She is still just so pretty! Oh, and dido..You are very welcome!

[perky]

, Did anyone catch her a couple of years ago in an add for (I believe) Fosamax on television.  She is still just so pretty! 

I thought that was Suki Schorer in those commercials! I can't remember the brand name of the drug but I do remember those ads.

If you want to see Schorer in action teaching take a look at any of the Balanchine Essays videos.

[Mme. Hermine]

that was her all right, it's the osteoporosis drug.

[Farrell Fan]

I miss Suki Schorer's commercials. For a while after they went off, Fosamax continued to use the dance studio setting, with a different "teacher," Ms.Dolly Dinkle, I believe. That was irksome.

Not to take anything away from the SAB dancers, but for some years now, my favorite moment in the annual workshop performances is when Suki, as pert and pretty as ever, comes out for a bow.

Suki's father, Mark Schorer, was a novelist, story-writer, and biographer of Sinclair Lewis and D. H. Lawrence, who was a long-time professor of English at Berkeley. The jacket copy of what may have been his last book, "Pieces of Life," concludes, "He is currently at work on his biography of George Balanchine."

[violet]

I haven't seen the tv commercial but I did see the print ad in a magazine.

I have a question about Suki Schorer's name. If you go to corbis.com and search for schorer, there are some pictures of her but with the name Suzanne! Can anyone explain?

[Gina Ness]

Neat photos, violet! Perhaps, Suki is a nickname for Suzanne? It certainly looks like Ms. Schorer and has the additional information about her father given to us all from Farrell Fan. In Japanese, Suki means something like "fond of, pleasing, very dear". I know this because in my youth, I had a beloved cat named "Suki"! In the other dance photo, I recognize Bene Arnold (second on the left), a very young Sue Loyd directly in front of her, and Glen Chadwick in the back...I wish I could recognize and identify all the other dancers...

[Mel Johnson]

I don't know that she was promoted to principal. She started performing principal roles, but I can't think of a single original accomplishment of hers after about 1970. Balanchine seemed to do his best work with her while she was a soloist.

[Giselle05]

Suki's birth name was indeed Suzanne, she changed it upon coming to NYCB because of the presence of two other Suzanne/Susan (Farrell and Pilarre) :-)

[Farrell Fan]

Merrill Ashley had to change from her real name, Linda Merrill, when she joined NYCB because another NYCB dancer was using it as a stage name.

[Helene]

Suki's birth name was indeed Suzanne, she changed it upon coming to NYCB because of the presence of two other Suzanne/Susan (Farrell and Pilarre) :-)

She must have been prescient, because she joined NYCB in 1959, the year Diana Adams tapped Suzanne Farrell for SAB, and Susan Pilarre was still performing children's roles in The Nutcracker through the early 60's.

[Helene]

I don't know that she was promoted to principal.  She started performing principal roles, but I can't think of a single original accomplishment of hers after about 1970. 

Schorer retired from NYCB in 1972. She was not in a featured role in the original cast of the four ballets Balanchine choreographed in 1970-1 (Who Cares, Tchaikovsky Suite No. 3, Concerto for Jazz Band and Orchestra, or PAMTAGG. According to the Preface of her book, Balanchine Technique, she had an increasing teaching load at the end of her career, among her duties teaching a "Newcomer's Class" for the newest members of the corps. According to her SAB bio, she became a Principal Dancer in 1968.