Farrell, Suzanne

Farrell, Suzanne (b. Roberta Sue Fricker)

(1945–  ) ballet dancer; born in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her mother encouraged ballet lessons as a cure for "tomboyishness." Noticed by a scout for the School of American Ballet, she auditioned for George Balanchine on her 15th birthday and won a scholarship to the school. After only six months in the New York City Ballet's corps de ballet, she became a featured dancer (1962); by 1965 she was a principal dancer. Called one of Balanchine's muses, he choreographed several dances for her including Variations (1966). She taught a masters class at the University of Cincinnati, and on her retirement from the Ballet at age 44, she taught at the School of American Ballet until she was fired in 1993.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.