Susan Jaffe named artistic director of ABT

[Dale]

The release. 

 

SUSAN JAFFE NAMED ARTISTIC DIRECTOR OF AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

NEW YORK, NY (May 9, 2022) — Former American Ballet Theatre Principal Dancer
Susan Jaffe has been named the Company’s next Artistic Director. Jaffe’s appointment, effective December 2022, was announced today by Andrew Barth, ABT Chairman of the Board of Governing Trustees. Jaffe will succeed Kevin McKenzie who last spring announced his intent to retire after the 2022 season, following three decades of leadership.

Jaffe was appointed Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre (PBT) in July 2020 and has since led the company in new artistic achievements, including choreographing a new Swan Lake (2022) and stewarding PBT’s presence during the COVID-19 pandemic and successful return to the stage. In addition, Jaffe joined PBT’s administration in the company’s renewed commitment to racial justice and equity with PBT’s Equity Transformation Team, prioritizing inclusivity on its stages, in its hiring practices, and in training programs.

“What a profound honor it is for me to come back home to lead the artistic helm of American Ballet Theatre,” said Jaffe. “I have experienced so many iterations of my career at ABT. I was a student, second company member, main Company member, teacher in the school, Advisor to the Chairman, and Director of Repertoire for the Company. The role of Artistic Director will be my seventh at this wonderful institution. To come back home is truly a dream come true! I am grateful to Kevin McKenzie for his passion, dedication, and stewardship of the Company over the last 30 years, and I look forward to working with everyone to bring ABT into its future. I would also like to take this opportunity to say how much I enjoyed working with everyone at Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. PBT is an outstanding organization, and the happy memories of working with the dancers, staff, and board will stay with me forever.”

Declared by The New York Times as “America’s Quintessential American Ballerina,” Jaffe enjoyed a career as a Principal Dancer at American Ballet Theatre for 22 years. She performed on the international stage with the Royal Ballet, the Kirov Ballet, the Stuttgart Ballet, La Scala Ballet, Vienna State Opera Ballet, Royal Danish Ballet, Royal Swedish Ballet, and the English National Ballet. Her versatility as a dancer brought acclaimed interpretations to ballet classics, such as Swan Lake and The Sleeping Beauty, and dramatic works by Agnes de Mille, Antony Tudor, John Cranko, Ronald Hynd, and Kenneth MacMillan. She also worked with many prominent contemporary choreographers of her time, such as Twyla Tharp, Jerome Robbins, Merce Cunningham, Nacho Duato, Mark Morris, Ulysses Dove, and Jiří Kylián.

After retiring from the stage in 2002, Jaffe taught in the ABT Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis School and served as an advisor to the chairman of the board of ABT until 2007. In 2010 she became a Director of Repertoire at ABT. Two years later, she was appointed Dean of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in Winston-Salem, NC, a position she held for eight years. During her tenure at UNCSA, Jaffe and her faculty implemented a syllabus based on the ABT National Training Curriculum and established the Choreographic Institute of UNCSA. Additionally, she raised $3.5 million in endowed scholarships and other scholarships.

In 2020 Jaffe was appointed the Artistic Director of Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre. She helped to lead the company through the pandemic with digital programs, outdoor performances, and performances in museums. As audiences began returning to theaters, Jaffe curated programs that included classic ballets and diverse, innovative voices of today.

A choreographer herself, Jaffe has created works for American Ballet Theatre, ABT Studio Company, Grand Rapid Ballet’s Move Media, Company C Contemporary Ballet, Configurations Dance Theatre, and Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre, among others.

“We are thrilled that we can extend an almost lifelong connection between ABT and Susan Jaffe with this announcement,” said Andrew Barth, Chairman of ABT’s Board of Governing Trustees. “We thank ABT Trustee Susan Fales-Hill for leading our search committee through an extensive and comprehensive process. Susan Jaffe brings an amazing array of talents – prima ballerina, advisor, coach, mentor, teacher, and artistic director – to her new position at ABT. We suspect she will use them all to respect the history and legacy of ABT while moving us artistically into the future.”

“I am so pleased that ABT will come under Susan’s care,” said Kevin McKenzie, current Artistic Director at ABT. “She’s a colleague I admire who always maintained a sense of joy and fun. She is a wonderful teacher and coach, bringing the experience of an extensive and acclaimed performing career, working under three directors while at ABT. With her experience at UNCSA and PBT, Susan comes equipped with her own expertise and the ability to get the best out of those around her.”

ABOUT AMERICAN BALLET THEATRE

American Ballet Theatre is one of the greatest dance companies in the world. Revered as a national treasure since its founding season in 1940, its mission is to create, present, preserve, and extend the great repertoire of classical dancing for the widest possible audience. Headquartered in New York City, ABT is the only cultural institution of its size and stature to extensively tour, enchanting audiences for eight decades in 50 U.S. states, 45 countries, and over 480 citiesworldwide. ABT’s repertoire includes full-length classics from the nineteenth century, the finest works from the early twentieth century, and acclaimed contemporary masterpieces.

For more information, please visit www.abt.org.
Follow American Ballet Theatre on social media:

  

[abatt]

NY Times also ran a story about the Jaffe appointment.  It mentioned that Ratmansky's contract with ABT expires "next year", and Jaffe refers to Ratmansky as a "tremendous artist".  I wonder if Ratmansky will sign on again with ABT, or will instead branch out to more companies and spend less time with ABT.  We know that he has no plan to work in Russia again until Putin is gone.

[Drew]

27 minutes ago, abatt said:

NY Times also ran a story about the Jaffe appointment.  It mentioned that Ratmansky's contract with ABT expires "next year", and Jaffe refers to Ratmansky as a "tremendous artist".  I wonder if Ratmansky will sign on again with ABT, or will instead branch out to more companies and spend less time with ABT.  We know that he has no plan to work in Russia again until Putin is gone.

Congratulations to her! She brings a ton of experience to the job....

The article mentioned that she had not yet spoken with Ratmansky.  I hope she does so soon -- and I hope he does sign on again.

Edited May 9, 2022 by Drew

[ABT Fan]

I was not expecting Jaffe! Wow. I feel rather neutral on this decision, though I’m pleased they chose a woman and someone who has a long history with the company, and many illustrious years as a principal. (So many other possible choices that would have been disastrous imo…)

Edited May 9, 2022 by ABT Fan

[California]

My main response is relief! She's a known quantity wearing many hats as a performer, administrator, and choreographer.  I would guess that dancers also feel some relief, at least for now, that she's somebody who is poised to move the company forward without going off a high-risk cliff!

[tutu]

Can anyone speak to Jaffe’s record at PBT in a way that can help predict what kind of changes she may bring about?

[California]

11 minutes ago, tutu said:

Can anyone speak to Jaffe’s record at PBT in a way that can help predict what kind of changes she may bring about?

The review of her Swan Lake is interesting: 

https://www.post-gazette.com/ae/theater-dance/2022/05/04/pittsburgh-ballet-theatre-2021-22-season-closing-swan-lake-susan-jaffe/stories/202204290080

 

[VanKirk]

An excellent choice! I’m excited to see what’s ahead for ABT with Susan at the helm.

[NinaFan]

WOW !!!!!!!!!  Congratulations to Susan!  Loved her as a dancer.  And like others on here, it comes as a relief that they chose so wisely.

[JuliaJ]

So thankful they chose someone with a deep appreciation for the classics. Classical productions are what ABT does best and the recent attempts to semi-rebrand the company with mediocre contemporary work has been a huge failure, in my opinion. I'm sure there will be new commissions but hopefully better-selected ones. The company needs to seriously rethink its strategy for the fall season because lackluster triple bills that barely sell tickets are clearly not working (putting on Giselle last fall was a good start, however). 

[abatt]

It will be interesting to see what happens going forward.  There is a roster of principals now who are drawn largely from the  JKO School pipeline.  Some are wonderful, but in my opinion others are good soloists who McKenzie decided to promote to principal.  Apart from what she intends to do with the rep, the question is what will she do with the slate of dancers who are now principals, and even some of the soloists.  Is she going to be like Corella (as AD of PA Ballet), and "clean house" when she comes in, i.e., not renewing certain principal and soloist contracts that expire.  Or is she going to stick with the team she has inherited from McKenzie.  Notably, when Jaffe was principal, ABT engaged in searching out talent from all over the world to hire top level dancers as permanent members of the company.  That's how we got people like Carreno and Corella back in the day as permanent ABT artists.  Of course, the JKO School was not yet in place, or maybe it was just getting going.  I forget.  At any rate, the fundamental issue here is whether she will continue using JKO grads as the pipeline to ABT. 

Edited May 9, 2022 by abatt

[Roberta]

Congratulations to Susan Jaffe. It surprises me simply because she really had only one full normal season at Pittsburgh. However, it was a successful one. I attended the season-premiere mixed bill last October at the Benedum Centre - truly magnificent, beginning with Helen Pickett's PETAL - a Jaffe fave since the North Car School for the Arts years - and culminating with Balanchine's Diamonds.  It was a classy program that did not pander to pop music enthusiasts...which so many US companies seem to be doing these days.

Helen Pickett ballets at ABT is not a bad thing IMO.

[Buddy]

Abatt, interesting question about performers. I have mixed feelings. It's good to see fine 'home nurtured' talent, which is much more the face of the company today than it was a few years ago, but Veronika Part from the Mariinsky, for instance, was the one whom I would travel long distances to see. Good quality, no matter where it's from, is worth considering.

On another note, I also look forward to seeing ABT's interpretations of the Classics, which are a 'known quantity' and I consider among the finest performances in today's ballet world.

But, as I've mentioned enthusiastically before, there is one contemporary work from 2021 that did stand out for me because I thought that it was genuinely 'Cool.' If they could filter out more like this I'd be impressed.  

INDESTRUCTIBLE LIGHT 

Choreography by Darrell Grand Moultrie -- Music by Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Neal Hefti, and Billy Strayhorn
Songs: “Battle Royal,” “Little Pony,” “Tricky’s Licks,” and “The Star-Crossed Lovers” -- Dancers: Betsy McBride, Jacob Clerico, Anabel Katsnelson, Melvin Lawovi, Hannah Marshall, Duncan McIlwaine, Scout Forsythe, Joseph Markey 

And my congratulations as well to Susan Jaffe.

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by Buddy

[Fleurfairy]

Hallelujah!

[miliosr]

8 hours ago, abatt said:

Apart from what she intends to do with the rep, the question is what will she do with the slate of dancers who are now principals, and even some of the soloists.  Is she going to be like Corella (as AD of PA Ballet), and "clean house" when she comes in, i.e., not renewing certain principal and soloist contracts that expire.  Or is she going to stick with the team she has inherited from McKenzie. 

I don't think Jaffe will need to go in for a Corella-style bloodletting because the march of time will see plenty of age-related departures in the relative near term:

• Gillian Murphy is 43.
• Herman Cornejo turns 41 next week.
• Misty Copeland turns 40 in September.

Jaffe will have plenty of opportunities to shape the roster without generating the kind of bad press Corella did.

[lmrook]

While congratulations are in order, the timing of this announcement completely overshadows PBT Company, in the midst of their Swan Lake run.  Not a single social media posting on opening night, over the weekend and no review or comments about the success of opening weekend.   Very sad for PBT. 

[atm711]

What an inspired choice!  Hopefully Ballet Theatre’s past glories will emerge.

[abatt]

1 hour ago, atm711 said:

What an inspired choice!  Hopefully Ballet Theatre’s past glories will emerge.

I don't think so.  ABT's past glories were based on its roster of  dancers, and unfortunately a number of principal and soloist dancers in the current roster are  not glorious dancers. 

Edited May 10, 2022 by abatt

[ABT Fan]

1 hour ago, abatt said:

I don't think so.  ABT's past glories were based on its roster of  dancers, and unfortunately a number of principal and soloist dancers in the current roster are  not glorious dancers. 

While I know this will sound harsh, I do hope a bit of cleaning house will happen. There are 3 soloists whose work is mediocre at best and whose roles at this point should be given to more talented and deserving corps dancers. There is a bottleneck at the soloist rank and I think of several corps dancers who have been stuck in the corps way too long, dancers who have been performing soloist and even some principal roles for awhile now. And, yes there are principal issues as well. I’m surprised that at least one retirement isn’t happening this summer.

Edited May 10, 2022 by ABT Fan

[FauxPas]

Several however are glorious dancers - Christine Schevchenko, Skyler Brandt and Aran Bell are wonderful dancers.  I haven’t seen enough of the recently promoted principals in lead roles to judge them.  
We’ll see what happens.  
 

I love the fact that dancers are being taken into the company from the JKO school and promoted to soloist and principal dancers. However, let’s say if Olga Smirnova decided to join ABT now that she has left Russia and is settled in Europe, I would be thrilled.  

[abatt]

34 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

Several however are glorious dancers - Christine Schevchenko, Skyler Brandt and Aran Bell are wonderful dancers. 

I agree with you on that.  Those three are indeed wonderful dancers.

[ABT Fan]

49 minutes ago, FauxPas said:

Several however are glorious dancers - Christine Schevchenko, Skyler Brandt and Aran Bell are wonderful dancers.  I haven’t seen enough of the recently promoted principals in lead roles to judge them.  
We’ll see what happens.  
 

I love the fact that dancers are being taken into the company from the JKO school and promoted to soloist and principal dancers. However, let’s say if Olga Smirnova decided to join ABT now that she has left Russia and is settled in Europe, I would be thrilled.  

Also agree, those 3 are glorious. Would also add Trenary. 

[California]

I don't know why I got this email from Pittsburgh Ballet Theatre.  (I'm not a subscriber or friend to this company.) It's too bad it arrived today, a full day after the ABT announcement:

An Important Update from PBT

Dear Friends of PBT:

I am writing to let you know that I will be stepping down as Artistic Director of PBT in November of 2022 to become the Artistic Director of American Ballet Theatre. This position was not something I actively sought out, but instead one that came to me. When the opportunity presented itself, I simply couldn't pass it up. Not only is ABT the top classical ballet company in the U.S., but it is also my first home. I spent 32 years working in different capacities there, so really it is a homecoming for me. I am so grateful for my experience at PBT, my first role as an artistic director. What we have accomplished together over the last two years is nothing short of remarkable, and each and every one of you who may have contributed to our success by sharing in our love for ballet and arts. When traditional theater performances were not an option, you helped to keep us dancing in innovative ways, including on our mobile stage at Open Air and through digital programming.   I have so enjoyed my time at PBT and will feel a deep sadness in my heart when I depart, but I know the organization will continue to accomplish great things with PBT's next artistic director. With deep sincerity and gratitude,

Susan Jaffe

[Buddy]

8 hours ago, FauxPas said:

I love the fact that dancers are being taken into the company from the JKO school and promoted to soloist and principal dancers. However, let’s say if Olga Smirnova decided to join ABT now that she has left Russia and is settled in Europe, I would be thrilled.  

I've felt this way since it was known that she left Russia, FauxPas. It just seemed right to me. I even saw a post  of her being part of ABT, and thought, "Already!," but it was only for one old performance. However, let's try this out. Doesn't look too bad, does it ?  🙂  

https://www.abt.org/people/olga-smirnova/

It could be a very good mix of classical and 'progressive' for her. If she were to take up some dual residence between the Dutch National Ballet, where out of gratitude at least she would remain attached, and ABT this would be great. 

I think that she will always be a sort of free agent, as she was already somewhat at the Bolshoi. If either the Dutch National Ballet or ABT became artistically stimulating to her, she might put down more permanent roots. I also look forward to the day when she is welcomed back to the Bolshoi. It's a lot of ground to cover, but she seems to be that kind of person. 

 

Edited May 11, 2022 by Buddy
spelling correction

[NinaFan]

18 hours ago, FauxPas said:

Several however are glorious dancers - Christine Schevchenko, Skyler Brandt and Aran Bell are wonderful dancers. 

I agree!

Edited May 11, 2022 by NinaFan