25 Facts About Ethan Stiefel

Ethan Stiefel was born on February 13,1973 and is an American dancer, choreographer, and director.

Ethan Stiefel was a principal dancer with American Ballet Theatre from 1997 until July 2012.

Ethan Stiefel was the artistic director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet from 2011 to 2014.

Ethan Stiefel's wife is Gillian Murphy, a principal dancer with ABT.

Ethan Stiefel became involved with classical dance through his older sister, who was taking a class.

Ethan Stiefel studied for two years at the Milwaukee Ballet School under Ted Kivitt and Paul Sutherland, and at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet before moving to New York City to attend the School of American Ballet on scholarship.

Ethan Stiefel studied with Baryshnikov himself at the short-lived Mikhail Baryshnikov's School of Classical Ballet.

Ethan Stiefel started his dancing career in 1989, when he joined the corps de ballet of New York City Ballet at age 16.

Ethan Stiefel ended his tenure with NYCB in April 1997 when he joined ABT as a principal dancer, from which he retired in 2012.

Ethan Stiefel danced with the short-lived Mikhail Baryshnikov School of Classical Ballet at ABT.

Ethan Stiefel won a silver medal at the Prix de Lausanne in 1989 and received a Princess Grace Foundation-USA grant in 1991.

In 1998, Ethan Stiefel was nominated for the Benois de la Danse award as one of the rising stars in ballet.

In 2007, Ethan Stiefel made his debut with the Australian Ballet in Nureyev's staging of Don Quixote, for its Melbourne and Sydney seasons, in the role of Basilio.

In 2008, Ethan Stiefel was a recipient of the Dance Magazine Award along with Pina Bausch, Sylvia Walters, and Lawrence Rhodes for his role as a leader in the dance field.

Ethan Stiefel has appeared as a guest artist with many companies throughout his career including the Mariinsky Ballet, the Royal Ballet, the Australian Ballet, Zurich Ballet, Munich Ballet, Hamburg Ballet, National Ballet of Canada, New National Ballet in Tokyo, and Teatro Colon Ballet in Buenos Aires.

Ethan Stiefel gave his final performance as an ABT principal dancer on July 7,2012, at the Metropolitan Opera House, as Ali the slave in Le Corsaire.

Ethan Stiefel was formerly the dean of the School of Dance at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts in Winston-Salem where he choreographed a new production of The Nutcracker.

In November 2010 Ethan Stiefel was announced as the next director of the Royal New Zealand Ballet.

Ethan Stiefel expanded the international profile of the company, programmed new works, created a one-act ballet Bierhalle, and choreographed a production of Giselle.

In March 2014, Ethan Stiefel announced that he would not extend his contract with the Royal New Zealand Ballet and would return to the United States.

In November 2020, it was announced that Ethan Stiefel will take over the New Jersey-based American Repertory Ballet in July 2021 as artistic director.

Ethan Stiefel starred in the sequels Center Stage: Turn It Up and Center Stage: On Pointe.

Ethan Stiefel grew up riding dirt bikes, currently owns a Harley-Davidson Wide Glide and once drove 3,500 miles across the north-eastern US with his then-girlfriend Gillian Murphy riding pillion.

Ethan Stiefel is a Green Bay Packers and Wisconsin Badgers fan.

Ethan Stiefel proposed to Murphy, a principal dancer with American Ballet Company, in May 2011, after they performed in ABT's spring gala.