ABI STAFFORD

Featured Roles Since Joining NYCB

George Balanchine
  • Ballo della Regina
  • Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet ( First Movement)
  • Concerto Barocco
  • Coppélia (Dawn)
  • Cortège Hongrois
  • Divertimento No. 15
  • "Emeralds" from Jewels
  • Episodes
  • The Four Temperaments
  • George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ (Sugarplum Fairy and Dewdrop)
  • Kammermisuk No. 2
  • A Midsummer Night's Dream (Hermia, Divertissement)
  • Raymonda Variations
  • Robert Schumann's "Davidsbündlertänze"
  • La Source
  • Square Dance
  • Stars and Stripes
  • Swan Lake
  • Symphony in C (First and Third Movements)
  • Symphony in Three Movements
  • Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 (Theme and Variations)
  • Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux
  • Union Jack
  • Valse-Fantaisie
  • Walpurgisnacht Ballet
  • Western Symphony (First Movement)
  • Who Cares?
Melissa barak
  • A Simple Symphony
August Bournonville
  • Flower Festival in Genzano (Pas de Deux)
Miriam Mahdaviani
  • Appalachia Waltz
Peter Martins
  • A Fool for You
  • The Chairman Dances
  • Fearful Symmetries
  • Naïve and Sentimental Music
  • The Sleeping Beauty (Princess Florine, Ruby, and Vivacity)
  • Swan Lake (Pas de Trois and Pas de Quatre)
  • The Waltz Project
Angelin Preljocaj
  • La Stravaganza
Alexei Ratmansky
  • Russian Seasons
JEROME ROBBINS AND TWYLA THARP
  • Brahms/Handel
Jerome Robbins
  • Dances at a Gathering
  • Fanfare (Clarinet)
  • Glass Pieces
  • The Goldberg Variations
  • Piano Pieces
Christopher Wheeldon
  • Klavier
  • Mercurial Manoeuvres

Originated featured roles in

  • Stephen Baynes: Twilight Courante
  • Jiři Bubeniček: Toccata
  • Peter Martins: Viva Verdi
  • Kevin O'Day: Swerve Poems
  • Alexei Ratmansky: Namouna, A Grand Divertissement and Russian Seasons

Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Abi Stafford began her dance training at the age of six with the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet in Carlisle, under the direction of Marcia Dale Weary. Ms. Stafford entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, full time in the fall of 1998. At SAB, she performed the role of Clarinet in Jerome Robbins' Fanfare and a role in Christopher Wheeldon's Scènes de Ballet for the SAB's Annual Workshop performances. Ms. Stafford was invited to become an apprentice with New York City Ballet in November 1999 and joined the corps de ballet in January 2000. She was promoted to the rank of soloist in January 2002 and principal dancer in December 2007.

Honors

Ms. Stafford was named the Janice Levin Dancer for the 2000-2001 season. In spring 2003 Ms. Stafford was awarded the 2003 Martin E. Segal Award, which acknowledges the exemplary achievement of young artists.

Additional Information

She is the sister of NYCB Principal Dancer Jonathan Stafford.
 

Portrait © Paul Kolnik