Editing Suzanne Farrell

{{short description|American ballerina}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Suzanne Farrell
| image = Suzanne Farrell 1965c.jpg
| caption = Farrell in 1965
| birth_name = Roberta Sue Ficker
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|08|16}}
| birth_place = [[Cincinnati]], Ohio, United States
| alma_mater = [[School of American Ballet]]
| occupation = Ballerina; Masterclass Dance Teacher
| years_active = 1960–1989; 1989-2017
| spouse = {{marriage|Paul Mejia|1969|1997|end=div}}
| known_for = Dance Career; Dance Guru
| honours = [[Kennedy Center Honors]] (2005)<br />[[Presidential Medal of Freedom]] (2005)
}}
[[File:Suzanne Farrell 1965.jpg|thumb|Farrell in 1965]]
'''Suzanne Farrell''' (born August 16, 1945) is a former American [[ballerina]] and the founder of the [[Suzanne Farrell Ballet]] at the [[Kennedy Center]] in Washington, D.C.

Farrell began her ballet training as a child in [[Cincinnati]]. In 1960, she received a scholarship to the [[School of American Ballet]]. Her first leading roles in ballets came in the early 1960s. A muse of [[George Balanchine]], she left the [[New York City Ballet]] in 1969 and subsequently moved to Brussels to dance for [[Maurice Béjart|Maurice Bejart]]'s [[Ballet of the 20th Century]].

In 1975, Farrell moved back to the United States, where she collaborated with Balanchine until his death in 1983; she retired from ballet six years later after a [[hip surgery]] she had due to [[arthritis]]. Farrell had an unusually long career as a ballet performer, and since her retirement in 1989 has acted as a teacher in numerous ballet schools. She held a teaching position with the [[New York City Ballet]] until 1993, and has been a professor of dance at [[Florida State University]] since 2000; the same year, she founded her own company, the [[Suzanne Farrell Ballet]], which disbanded at the end of 2017.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/suzanne-farrell-ballet-last-season-2511373468.html|title = Endings: The Suzanne Farrell Ballet Faces Its Last Season|date = December 5, 2017}}</ref>

The recipient of several honorary degrees, Farrell remains well-known and respected in the world of ballet and has been recognized for her influence on dance with several awards and honors, including [[Kennedy Center Honors]] and the [[Presidential Medal of Freedom]], the latter being the highest civilian honor in the United States. She was presented in 1987 with the Golden Plate Award of the [[Academy of Achievement|American Academy of Achievement]] at a ceremony in Scottsdale, Arizona.<ref>{{cite web|title= Golden Plate Awardees of the American Academy of Achievement |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url= https://achievement.org/our-history/golden-plate-awards/}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title= Suzanne Farrell Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=  https://achievement.org/achiever/suzanne-farrell/}}</ref> She was also elected to the [[American Philosophical Society]] in 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|title=APS Member History|url=https://search.amphilsoc.org/memhist/search?creator=Suzanne+Farrell&title=&subject=&subdiv=&mem=&year=&year-max=&dead=&keyword=&smode=advanced|access-date=February 8, 2021|website=search.amphilsoc.org}}</ref>

==Early life==
Farrell was born '''Roberta Sue Ficker''' in Cincinnati, Ohio. She received her early training at the [[Cincinnati Conservatory of Music]].<ref name="Bentley 1990">{{cite book |last1=Farrell |first1=Suzanne |last2=Bentley |first2=Toni |author2-link=Toni Bentley |title=Holding on to the Air |url=https://archive.org/details/holdingontoaira00farr |url-access=registration |year=1990 |publisher=Summit Books |location=New York |isbn=9780671682224}}</ref>{{rp|29–30}} In 1960, she was selected to study at choreographer [[George Balanchine]]'s [[School of American Ballet]] with a [[Ford Foundation]] scholarship.<ref name="Bentley 1990" />{{rp|44}} Suzanne, Beverly (the younger of her two older sisters) and their mother moved to [[The Ansonia]] apartment-hotel in New York City.<ref>{{cite magazine |last=Acocella |first=Joan |date=6 January 2003 |title=Second Act |url=https://archives.newyorker.com/newyorker/2003-01-06/ |url-access=subscription | magazine=The New Yorker |location=New York |publisher=Condé Nast |access-date=31 May 2024}}</ref> In 1961, she joined the [[New York City Ballet]] (NYCB) and became Balanchine's muse for many of his ballets.<ref name="Bentley 1990" />{{rp|54}}

==Career==

===Early career at NYCB===
Initially part of the ''[[corps de ballet]]'' at NYCB, Farrell soon moved on to dancing featured roles. The first ballet choreographed for her was ''Passage'', now ''Arcade'', by [[John Taras]] in 1963. Balanchine first paired her with [[Jacques d'Amboise (dancer)|Jacques d'Amboise]] to [[choreograph]] his ''Meditation'', which debuted in December 1963. One of her most notable roles was Dulcinea in Balanchine's ''[[Don Quixote (ballet)|Don Quixote]]'', which premiered in May 1965; Balanchine's creation of that ballet was thought{{who|date=July 2013}} to be a [[wikt:valentine#Noun|valentine]] to his newest "muse", and Balanchine performed in the role of Don Quixote on opening night.<ref name="Bentley 1990" /> In 1968, he cast her as the lead in the "Diamonds" section of his three-act plotless ballet ''Jewels''.

She re-scaled many ballets and expanded them to a new level of technique.<ref name="kcbio">{{cite web|title=Suzanne Farrell|url=http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/ballet/farrell/biography.cfm|access-date=March 3, 2012|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111229050340/http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/ballet/farrell/biography.cfm|archive-date=December 29, 2011}}</ref> In 1965, she was promoted to [[principal dancer]]. Her first role in her new title was ''Agon'' with [[Arthur Mitchell (dancer)|Arthur Mitchell]] at the [[Paris Opera Ballet|Paris Opera]]. [[George Balanchine]] quickly fell in love with his "alabaster princess" and created many roles for her. Farrell described learning choreography from Balanchine as a collaborative process, saying, "When Mr. B was working on a ballet, something would just spill out of his body; he could rarely duplicate it, so I tried to see precisely what he wanted the first time."<ref name="Fragos">Fragos, Emily. [http://bombsite.com/issues/85/articles/2603 "Suzanne Farrell"], ''[[BOMB Magazine]]'', Fall 2003. Retrieved July 20, 2011. {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814054447/http://bombsite.com/issues/85/articles/2603 |date=August 14, 2011 }}</ref>

Balanchine was married to the polio-stricken former ballerina [[Tanaquil Le Clercq]], however, and Farrell was a Catholic. Though Balanchine divorced LeClercq to pursue Farrell, she instead married fellow dancer Paul Mejia. This caused the relationship of Farrell and Balanchine to fracture. There was enormous tension between them, which caused Farrell and husband Mejia to leave the company.<ref>{{cite news |title=Always Off Balance and Always Secure |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/16/books/always-off-balance-and-always-secure.html |access-date=January 30, 2019|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=September 16, 1990}}</ref> Mejia and Farrell were married from 1969 to 1997.<ref>{{cite news |title=A classic built by soulmates |url=http://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/a-classic-built-by-soulmates/article687885/ |access-date=January 30, 2019|work=[[The Globe and Mail]]|date=2007}}</ref>

[[File:Suzanne Farrell and George Balanchine NYWTS.jpg|thumb|Farrell and George Balanchine in ''[[Don Quixote (ballet)|Don Quixote]]'']]
She and her husband later joined the European company [[Ballet of the 20th Century]] of the French choreographer [[Maurice Béjart]], based in Brussels. With this company she danced leading roles, some created for her, for four years, exploring a style of choreography completely different from Balanchine's. During this time, Farrell found herself often paired with the Dane [[Peter Martins]]. She eventually returned to Balanchine and the New York City Ballet in 1975. Balanchine continued to create new ballets for her, such as ''[[Chaconne (ballet)|Chaconne]]'', ''[[Mozartiana (ballet)|Mozartiana]]'', ''[[Tzigane (ballet)|Tzigane]]'' and ''[[Robert Schumann's Davidsbündlertänze]]''. While living in New York City, she appeared in the 1979-1980 season of the children's television show ''[[Sesame Street]]''.

Farrell's partnership with Balanchine lasted until his death in April 1983; his last works were solos for her. She retired from the New York City Ballet at age 44 on November 26, 1989, after being fired by Martins due to her three-year long absence from the stage, which was caused by her arthritis.<ref name=JD /> She performed ''Sophisticated Lady'' and ''[[Vienna Waltzes]]''. Farrell gave her final bow at State Theater with New York City Ballet co-founder [[Lincoln Kirstein]] by her side.<ref name="Bentley 1990"/>

===Career as a dance teacher===
Twenty-eight years of an occupation which takes a tremendous physical toll on the body began to come to an end in 1983. She started to develop [[arthritis]] in her right hip and despite two years of varied treatments, by 1985 (at the age of 40), her career on stage was almost over. She struggled for several years but ultimately retired from performing in 1989.{{citation needed|date=October 2021}}

She then moved on to passing on the ballets of Balanchine to the next generation of ballet dancers, working with companies around the world, such as those in Berlin and Vienna, as well as the [[Paris Opera Ballet]], [[Kirov Ballet]] and the [[Bolshoi Ballet]]. In 1993, the New York City Ballet dismissed her from her teaching position with the company.<ref name=JD>{{cite news|last=Dunning|first=Jennifer|author-link=Jennifer Dunning|title=City Ballet Breaks Off Its Long Relationship With Suzanne Farrell|work=[[The New York Times]]|date=August 4, 1993|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE2D81731F937A3575BC0A965958260|access-date=March 23, 2008}}</ref>

In 2000, Farrell began teaching in the Dance Department at [[Florida State University]] ([[Tallahassee, Florida]]).<ref name=kcbio />

===Career at the Kennedy Center===
In 2000, Farrell started her own company, the [[Suzanne Farrell Ballet]], which became a full-fledged company produced by the [[Kennedy Center]] but was disbanded in 2017.

[[File:2005 Kennedy Center honorees.jpg|thumb|300px|right|President [[George W. Bush]] and [[Laura Bush]] pose with the Kennedy Center honorees, from left to right, actress [[Julie Harris (actress)|Julie Harris]], actor [[Robert Redford]], singer [[Tina Turner]], Farrell, singer [[Tony Bennett]] on December 4, 2005, during the reception in the [[Blue Room (White House)|Blue Room]] at the [[White House]].]]
Farrell's engagement with the Kennedy Center began in 1993 and 1994, when the Center offered two series of ballet [[master class]]es for students with Farrell. This series provided intermediate-to-advanced level ballet students, ages 13 to 17, an opportunity to study with one of the greatest ballerinas of the 20th century. Due to the uniqueness of Farrell's place in the ballet world and the quality of her teaching, the Kennedy Center expanded the program to a national level in 1995, in order to fulfill the center's mission to enhance the arts education of America's young people. Farrell's students learned to "turn up the technicolor in [their] movement", in order to achieve greater amplification in their dancing.<ref name=Fragos/> This three weeks' long yearly initiative of intense study grew into a full-fledged program, ''Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell''.

In the fall of 1999, Farrell received critical acclaim for the successful Kennedy Center engagement and [[East Coast of the United States|East Coast]] tour of ''Suzanne Farrell Stages the Masters of 20th-century Ballet''. Following the Kennedy Center's debut, the newly named Suzanne Farrell Ballet, a group of professional dancers hand selected by Farrell, has since performed at the Kennedy Center during engagements in 2001 and 2002, been on an extensive East Coast tour, and returned to the Kennedy Center as part of the 2003–2004 Ballet Season following a seven-week national tour. Farrell was selected as one of the five recipients of the 2005 [[Kennedy Center Honors]], one of the highest honors for lifetime artistic achievement.

In 2007, the Suzanne Farrell Ballet formalized the creation of the Balanchine Preservation Initiative. This initiative introduces lost or rarely seen Balanchine works to audiences. As a result, ballets like ''Ragtime'' (Balanchine/Stravinsky), ''[[Metastaseis and Pithoprakta|Pithoprakta]]'' (Balanchine/Xenakis) and ''Divertimento Brillante'' (Balanchine/Glinka) were recreated and performed.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/ballet/farrell/about.cfm |title=The Suzanne Farrell Ballet |access-date=August 12, 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202011956/http://www.kennedy-center.org/programs/ballet/farrell/about.cfm |archive-date=February 2, 2012  }}</ref>

Despite positive reviews and an annual budget ranging from $1-$1.4 million, the center announced in September 2016 that the company would be disbanding at the end of the 2017 performance season. [[Deborah Rutter]], President of the [[John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts]], noted that the center would be undergoing a new expansion project to include additional performance and rehearsal space. Farrell's new role in the organization remained unclear, however, Rutter emphasized that Farrell would continue to be an "artistic partner" at the center.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/theater_dance/suzanne-farrell-ballet-to-disband-in-2017/2016/09/21/c9877a2e-8025-11e6-b002-307601806392_story.html|title=Suzanne Farrell Ballet to disband in 2017|last=Kaufman|first=Sarah L.|date=September 21, 2016|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=February 9, 2017|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

==See also==
{{Portal|Biography}}
*[[Women in dance]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading and viewing==
* Suzanne Farrell, [[Toni Bentley]], ''Holding on to the Air'' (Summit Books, New York, 1990)
* ''[[Suzanne Farrell: Elusive Muse]]'', 1996 documentary film
* {{cite web|title= Suzanne Farrell Biography and Interview |website=www.achievement.org|publisher=[[American Academy of Achievement]]|url=  https://www.achievement.org/achiever/suzanne-farrell/#interview}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20100615024407/http://kennedy-center.org/programs/ballet/farrell/ The Suzanne Farrell Ballet]
* [http://www.kennedy-center.org/education/farrell/ Exploring Ballet with Suzanne Farrell]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20120112231139/http://fora.tv/2006/07/08/Suzanne_Farrell_on_Balanchine_More_Than_Technique Archival footage of Suzanne Farrell speaking about Balanchine and technique in 2006 at Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival]}}
* [http://danceinteractive.jacobspillow.org/dance/suzanne-farrell-ballet Archival footage of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet performing ''Clarinade'' in 2006 at Jacob's Pillow.] 
* [http://www.gettyimages.com.au/photos/suzanne-farrell?family=editorial&phrase=Suzanne%20Farrell Photos of Suzanne Farrell], Getty Images
* [http://www.ballerinagallery.com/farrell.htm The Ballerina Gallery – Suzanne Farrell]
* {{cite news|url=http://www.cincypost.com/living/1999/farrel041999.html|title=Suzanne Farrell: She shaped new generation of dancers|author=Barry M. Horstman|work=[[The Cincinnati Post]]|publisher=[[E. W. Scripps Company]]|date=April 19, 1999|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070517104605/http://www.cincypost.com/living/1999/farrel041999.html|archive-date=May 17, 2007}}
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070928181526/http://capeziodance.com/about/foundation/award/recipients/2005.html Capezio Dance Award – Suzanne Farrell 2005]
* [http://bombsite.com/issues/85/articles/2603 2003 ''BOMB Magazine'' interview of Suzanne Farrell by Emily Fragos]
* {{IMDb name|0268347}}

{{Navboxes
| title = Awards for Suzanne Farrell
| list =
{{Kennedy Center Honorees 2000s}}
{{National Medal of Arts recipients 2000s}}
}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Farrell, Suzanne}}
[[Category:1945 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Balanchine Trust repetiteurs]]
[[Category:American prima ballerinas]]
[[Category:Ballet mistresses]]
[[Category:Florida State University faculty]]
[[Category:Artists from Cincinnati]]
[[Category:University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music alumni]]
[[Category:School of American Ballet alumni]]
[[Category:New York City Ballet principal dancers]]
[[Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients]]
[[Category:Muses (persons)]]
[[Category:Kennedy Center honorees]]
[[Category:Members of the American Philosophical Society]]