- September 4, 2024
An Interview with John Clifford
Artist in Residence for 2024-25
The Portland Ballet
Dean Speer
John Clifford is an American producer, director, author, choreographer, and dancer. He was the founder and artistic director of the original Los Angeles Ballet (1974–85) and the chamber-sized touring ensemble, Ballet of Los Angeles (1988–91). Before that time, Clifford was a Principal Dancer and a choreographer (8 ballets before age 26) with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet (1966–74). Balanchine invited him back as a guest artist numerous times, and his last performances with the company were in 1980.
Clifford was the artistic director of Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute Video/Choreographer Program and produced “Pas De Deux,” a video distributed by Video Artists International (VAI).
His new for-profit dance company Los Angeles Dance Theater produced a dance version of the Humphrey Bogart/ Ingrid Bergman film “Casablanca”:CASABLANCA: The Dance for Warner Bros Theatre Ventures, Inc. The production premiered on April 5, 2005 at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China.
Cover pf
“Balanchine’s Apprentice”
by John Clifford
Photo Courtesy of John Clifford
Mr. Clifford is a senior répétiteur for the George Balanchine Trust and has staged numerous Balanchine ballets for companies including the Paris Opera Ballet, the Bolshoi Ballet, the Mariinsky Ballet, the San Francisco Ballet, etc., and numerous other ballet companies in the United States. As a choreographer, companies such as the Deutsche Oper Ballet, Zurich Ballet, Le Ballet de Monte Carlo, Ballet du Nord (France), Maggio Danza, Rome Opéra Ballet, and the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires produced an all-Clifford program in 1985.
His autobiography, “BALANCHINE’S APPRENTICE: From Hollywood to New York and Back,” published by the University Press of Florida, has received reviews in the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and Library Journal.
Mr. Clifford is an Artist-in-Residence for The Portland Ballet 2024-25.
DS: Please tell us about your relationshipwith The Portland Ballet – how did it begin and what are some of the projectsyou’ve workedon with them overthe years?
JC: As you know, both Nancy Davis and Jim Lane were principal dancers in my Los Angeles Ballet and I knew them both when they were teenagers at Balanchine’s SCHOOL OF AMERICAN BALLET. When they first started The Portland Ballet around 24 years ago they invited me to do a ballet for them for the holiday season which wasn’t The Nutcracker. Jim suggested “La Boutique Fantasque,” so I used that Rossini-Respighi score and made a new, fuller, story than the Massine original. I later expanded it adding many new characters. The company has been doing it since then on most of their Thanksgiving weekend shows. I’ve also made a new “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” for them, a new “Tales from Mother Goose,” a new “A Christmas Carol,” and restaged my “Firebird” for them. I’ve also made smaller pieces and restaged several Balanchine ballets for them. When I’ve come up to stage these I also teach some classes.
Sara Leland, John Clifford (front) and New York City Ballet
in George Balanchine’s “Symphony in C”
Photo Courtesy of John Clifford
How long is this current residency and what are some of your goals, e.g, teaching, choreography, staging a ballet?
I’m scheduled for a residency from now until June but may be taking some breaks to continue some projects in LA that were delayed due to the recent actors-writers strikes. I’ll be mostly teaching but may choreograph some smaller things. This November they’re reviving my “Firebird” and next spring my “Dream,” so I’ll be helping rehearse those too.
(l-r) George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins,
and John Clifford
Photo Courtesy of John Clifford
We’d love to have you pass along a Balanchine/NYCB anecdote or two, please…
Well they’re all in my book, but basically here’s two “You can rest in the grave,” and “What are you saving for? Now is all there is.”
What have been some of your most recent projects, outside of your work here?
Patricia McBride and John Clifford
Photo Courtesy of John Clifford
A big TV special with several A list musical stars (singers as well as guest dancers), which is still in play, so I really can’t speak about it. That’s what got delayed by the strikes and my producers are still in negotiations with another network.
Our readers like to know a bitmore about our subjects. What are some of your hobbies and interests?
I really don’t have any outside of the theater. Love movies of course…and good dinners with friends.
