Ballets By Sean Lavery
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Sean Lavery (August 16, 1956 in
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Harrisburg ( ; ) is the capital city of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the seat of Dauphin County. With a population of 50,099 as of 2020, Harrisburg is the ninth-most populous city in Pennsylvania. It is the larger of the two pr ...
– February 26, 2018 in
Palm Springs, California Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...
) was a former
principal dancer A principal dancer (often shortened to principal) is a dancer at the highest rank within a professional dance company, particularly a ballet company. A principal may be either gender. The position is similar to that of ''Soloist (ballet), solois ...
, balletmaster, and assistant to the balletmaster in chief at
New York City Ballet New York City Ballet (NYCB) is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein. Balanchine and Jerome Robbins are considered the founding choreographers of the company. Léon Barzin was the company's fir ...
. He was a
répétiteur A (; from the French verb meaning 'to repeat, to go over, to learn, to rehearse') is an accompanist, tutor or coach of ballet dancers or opera singers. The feminine form is . Opera In opera, a is the person responsible for coaching singers ...
for the
George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...
Trust and a former faculty member at the
School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...
.


Early life and dance career

Lavery grew up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and studied at Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet as a young boy before moving to New York to train with Barbara Fallis and Richard Thomas. He joined the
San Francisco Ballet San Francisco Ballet is the oldest ballet company in the United States, founded in 1933 as the San Francisco Opera Ballet under the leadership of ballet master Adolph Bolm. The company is currently based in the War Memorial Opera House, San Fra ...
in 1973 and the Frankfurt Opera Ballet in 1975, where he was promoted to principal dancer. In 1976, Lavery returned to
New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...
to join New York City Ballet at the invitation of
George Balanchine George Balanchine (; Various sources: * * * * born Georgiy Melitonovich Balanchivadze;, Romanization of Georgian, : April 30, 1983) was a Georgian-American ballet choreographer, recognized as one of the most influential choreographers ...
. A year later he made his major role debut as Titania's
Cavalier The term ''Cavalier'' () was first used by Roundheads as a term of abuse for the wealthier royalist supporters of Charles I of England and his son Charles II of England, Charles II during the English Civil War, the Interregnum (England), Int ...
in ''A Midsummer Night's Dream'' followed in quick succession by promotion to soloist in early 1978 and to principal dancer later that year. In 1986 at the age of 30, while partnering
Patricia McBride Patricia McBride (born August 23, 1942) is a ballerina who spent nearly 30 years dancing with the New York City Ballet. McBride joined the New York City Ballet in 1959. She became a principal in 1961, becoming the company's youngest principal. ...
during a performance of ''Who Cares?'', Lavery would suffer an injury that proved catastrophic. Due to a then unknown tumor on his spine, this injury would cause Lavery extreme neurological damage which led to the end of his career as a dancer. At the time Lavery carried a bulk of the repertory at City Ballet, giving up to 8 performances a week during the company's season. Despite lacking the proper finances to pay for his surgeries or rehabilitation, Lavery was supported emotionally and financially by the company and its Dancers' Emergency Fund which was created by
Jerome Robbins Jerome Robbins (born Jerome Wilson Rabinowitz; October 11, 1918 – July 29, 1998) was an American dancer, choreographer, film director, theatre director and producer who worked in classical ballet, on stage, film, and television. Among his nu ...
in 1980 specifically to assist dancers in the troupe waylaid by unexpected medical costs or personal losses. As a well beloved star dancer, Lavery's recovery was extensively covered by
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
in an article titled ''A Dancer's Nightmare''.


Post dance career

Following his recovery, Lavery would visit his alma mater at San Francisco Ballet to attend the opening of its official ballet school where he would teach a series of successful classes. Returning to New York, he continued teaching at David Howard's school to great acclaim. Upon hearing of Lavery's classes, City Ballet's co-ballet master-in-chief
Peter Martins Peter Martins (born 27 October 1946) is a Danish former ballet dancer and choreographer. Martins was a principal dancer with the Royal Danish Ballet and with the New York City Ballet, where he joined George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and J ...
invited him to teach company class. Following these initial classes, Lavery was appointed company teacher and later on balletmaster to the company and assistant to the ballet master in chief, specifically as the right-hand man of Peter Martins. During this time, he would choreograph his version of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for the company and serve as a faculty member of
School of American Ballet The School of American Ballet (SAB) is the associate school of the New York City Ballet, a ballet company based at the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City. The school trains students from the age of six, with professional voc ...
, where he re-staged his original 1990 ballet ''
Twinkliana ''Twinkliana'' is a ballet made by Sean Lavery, assistant to the ballet master in chief at New York City Ballet, for students of the Barnard College Dance Department, to Mozart's Variations on "Ah vous dirai-je, Maman" (or "Twinkle, Twinkle, Lit ...
'' for the SAB workshop in June 2007. Lavery retired from City Ballet and SAB in the fall of 2011. In 2012, in recognition of his service to SAB, he was awarded the Mae L. Wien Faculty Award for Distinguished Service. Following his retirement Lavery moved to Palm Springs, California, where he died February 26, 2018, after a brief illness.


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lavery, Sean 1956 births 2018 deaths New York City Ballet principal dancers American male ballet dancers Balanchine Trust repetiteurs Ballet masters American ballet choreographers Mae L. Wien Faculty Award recipients Artists from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania School of American Ballet faculty 20th-century American ballet dancers