Nancy Raffa

Name: Nancy Raffa

Birthplace: Poughkeepsie, New York

Training: Madame Gabriella Taub Darvash

Prix de Lausanne: Gold Medal in 1980

Previous companies/positions : American Ballet Theater, Ballet de Santiago, Ballet Francais National de Nancy, Miami City Ballet

Current company/position: American Ballet Theater- Ballet Master and performer

Favorite roles/choreographies: Miss Julie ( Cullberg), La Loca in Pyrr Gynt ( Ben Stevenson), Juliet; Giselle, and Margarite Lady of the Camelias ( Neumeier), Carabosse in “Sleeping Beauty”, Tchaikovsky, Pas de Deux ( Balanchine).

Career highlight: Prix de Lausanne, Makarova and Company, guesting with Bujones, Period with Dupond at Nancy, becoming Ballet Master at American Ballet Theater

Message to the Prix de Lausanne candidates: Do not worry about outcomes, but savour each and every moment of this extraordinary experience that you are about to embark on…absorb and learn from it and dance because you love to, you will find great joy!

Message to the Prix de Lausanne organisation: Years of hard work and training were realized and recognized when I captured Gold at Prix in 1980. As Churchill said, it wasn’t the beginning of the end; it was the end of the beginning. Prix opened the door to the world for me, allowing me to live my love of dance and see a world full of beauty, cultures, and languages. It was a springboard to my passion, art, love and life. It helped to shape who I am – as an artist and as a human being. I am forever grateful for the role that the Prix played in my life and career.