Madison, Wisconsin
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Ethan Stiefel was born in Tyrone, Pennsylvania and grew up in Madison, Wisconsin. He began his training at age eight. His early teachers included Paul Sutherland and former ABT principal dancer Ted Kivitt. When his family returned to Pennsylvania, Mr. Stiefel commenced his dance studies at Marcia Dale Weary's Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet. He spent a summer at the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet, where he later studied full-time on a full scholarship. Mr. Stiefel also studied with Mikhail Baryshnikov at his School of Classical Ballet.
At the age of 16, while still finishing high school at the Professional Children's School, Mr. Stiefel was offered a place in the New York City Ballet. In order to broaden his artistic experience, he took a leave of absence from the New York City Ballet in 1992 to dance with the Zürich Ballet. The company celebrated Mr. Stiefel's arrival with a new version of "The Nutcracker," staged by the company director Bernd Bienert. The Zurich Ballet also featured him in other works, including "Les Doigts Chauds." During the 1999-2000 season, he returned to Zürich to appear in the company premiere of Twyla Tharp's "Push Comes to Shove." After a year in Switzerland, Mr. Stiefel rejoined New York City Ballet and immediately assumed a prominent position in the company. His repertoire of George Balanchine works included "Harlequinade," "The Four Temperaments," "Apollo," "Symphony in Three Movements," "Stars and Stripes," "Theme and Variations," "Divertimento #15," "Symphony in C," "Tarantella," "Tchaikovsky Pas de Deux," "Valse Fantasie," "Chaconne," "The Nutcracker," and "A Midsummer Night's Dream." Mr. Stiefel was equally important in the company's vast repertoire of works by Jerome Robbins, including "Dances at a Gathering," "West Side Story Suite," "The Goldberg Variations," "2 + 3 Part Inventions,"" Interplay," "The Cage," and "Quiet City." He also appeared in the New York City Ballet world premieres of works by David Allan, William Forsythe, Kevin O'Day, Robert LaFosse, and Richard Tanner. Peter Martins accorded Mr. Stiefel the rare honor of appearing as a guest artist in "The Nutcracker" with the New York City Ballet during the 1998-99 season celebrating the company's 50th anniversary.
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| McKenzie on Stiefel: "I knew he was a force to be reckoned with." |
Mr. Stiefel joined American Ballet Theatre as a Principal Dancer in 1997. He has appeared in the company's extensive repertoire of full-length classics: Siegfried in "Swan Lake"; James in "La Sylphide"; Prince Florimund in "The Sleeping Beauty"; Albrecht in "Giselle"; Romeo in "Romeo and Juliet"; Lar Lubovitch's "Othello"; Franz in "Coppelia"; the Prince in "The Nutcracker"; Lensky in "Onegin"; the Prince in "Cinderella"; Conrad and Ali, the Slave, in "Le Corsaire"; Solor in "La Bayadère"; and Basil in "Don Quixote." His other repertoire with the company includes George Balanchine's "Apollo," "Prodigal Son," and "Theme and Variations"; Jerome Robbins's "Fancy Free" and "Other Dances"; Frederick Ashton's "Les Patineurs"; Twyla Tharp's "Push Comes to Shove" and "Brahms-Haydn Variations"; Paul Taylor's "Black Tuesday"; Harald Lander's "Etudes"; Eugene Loring's "Billy the Kid"; Anton Dolin's "Variations for Four"; Antony Tudor's "Dim Lustre"; Mark Morris's "Drink to Me Only with Thine Eyes" and "Gong"; Stanton Welch's "Clear"; Nacho Duato's "Without Words"; and Jiri Kylian's "Sinfonietta." He appeared in Clark Tippet's "Bruch Violin Concerto No. 1" on a Ballet Theatre telecast during the 1998 DANCE IN AMERICA season. He created leading roles in the world premieres of Twyla Tharp's "Known by Heart," Jean-Christophe Maillot's "In Volo," and Christian Holder's "Weren't We Fools?" In 2001, he appeared in the American Ballet Theatre premieres of two works by Frederick Ashton: as Colas in "La Fille mal gardée" and Oberon in "The Dream." A television production of Mr. Stiefel's performance as Conrad in American Ballet Theatre's production of the full-length "Le Corsaire" was seen on the PBS television series DANCE IN AMERICA. The program won the 2000 Emmy Award as Outstanding Classical/Dance Program.
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