21 Facts About Suzanne Farrell

Suzanne Farrell was born on August 16,1945 and is a former American ballerina and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Suzanne Farrell's first leading roles in ballets came in the early 1960s.

In 1975, Suzanne 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.

Suzanne 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.

Suzanne Farrell 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.

The recipient of several honorary degrees, Suzanne 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.

Suzanne Farrell was presented in 1987 with the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement at a ceremony in Scottsdale, Arizona.

Suzanne Farrell was elected to the American Philosophical Society in 2016.

Suzanne Farrell received her early training at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music.

Suzanne Farrell re-scaled many ballets and expanded them to a new level of technique.

Balanchine was married to the polio-stricken former ballerina Tanaquil Le Clercq and Suzanne Farrell was a Catholic.

Suzanne Farrell eventually returned to Balanchine and the New York City Ballet in 1975.

Suzanne Farrell 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.

Suzanne Farrell gave her final bow at State Theater with New York City Ballet co-founder Lincoln Kirstein by her side.

Suzanne Farrell started to develop arthritis in her right hip and despite two years of varied treatments, by 1985, her career on stage was almost over.

Suzanne Farrell struggled for several years but ultimately retired from performing in 1989.

Suzanne Farrell 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 2000, Suzanne Farrell began teaching in the Dance Department at Florida State University.

Suzanne Farrell's students learned to "turn up the technicolor in [their] movement", in order to achieve greater amplification in their dancing.

Suzanne 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.