Rachel Rutherford - New York City Ballet

The Company


Rachel Rutherford
rutherford.jpg
Photo © Paul Kolnik
Background
Rachel Rutherford was born in New York, New York, and began her ballet training at age eight at the Joffrey Ballet School. She entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet in 1987. While at the School she was chosen for the D.A.N.C.E. scholarship, which provided her the opportunity to study with the Royal Danish Ballet in the spring of 1992. Ms. Rutherford was made an apprentice with New York City Ballet in the spring of 1993 and was invited to join the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in the winter of 1995. Ms. Rutherford was promoted to the rank of soloist in May 2002.
Featured Roles Since Joining NYCB

Since joining New York City Ballet, Ms. Rutherford has danced featured roles in:

George Balanchine's:

  • Apollo
  • Ballo Della Regina
  • Chaconne
  • Concerto Barocco
  • Divertimento No. 15
  • Firebird
  • The Four Temperaments
  • George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ (Sugarplum Fairy, Hot Chocolate, and Flowers)
  • "Emeralds" from Jewels
  • Liebeslieder Walzer
  • A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia)
  • Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 (Waltz)
  • La Valse
  • Western Symphony
  • Who Cares?

August Bournonville's:

  • Pas de Six

Miriam Mahdaviani's:

  • Correlazione

Peter Martins':

  • The Sleeping Beauty (Emerald, Ruby, Tenderness, and Generosity)
  • Stabat Mater
  • Swan Lake ("Pas de Trois," "Pas de Quatre," and Hungarian)
  • Thou Swell

Alexei Ratmansky's:

  • Russian Seasons

Jerome Robbins':

  • Antique Epigraphs
  • Dances at a Gathering
  • Dybbuk
  • Fancy Free
  • Fanfare (Viola)
  • The Four Seasons (Summer)
  • Glass Pieces
  • The Goldberg Variations
  • Interplay
  • In the Night

and Lynne Taylor-Corbett's

  • Chiaroscuro

Ms. Rutherford originated featured roles in:

  • Stephen Baynes's Twilight Courante
  • Miriam Mahdaviani's Urban Dances and Appalachia Waltz
  • Angelin Preljocaj’s La Stravaganza
  • Mr. Robbins' N.Y. Export: Opus Jazz (NYCB premiere)
  • Christopher Wheeldon's Carnival of the Animals, Carousel (A Dance), and Slavonic Dances

She originated corps roles in:

  • Eliot Feld's Organon
  • Robert La Fosse and Robert Garland's Tributary
  • Mr. Martins' Concerti Armonici and Reliquary
  • Mr. Robbins' Brandenburg and West Side Story Suite
Other Performances
In the spring of 1996, Ms. Rutherford appeared on "The Late Show with David Letterman." She also appeared in the 2002 nationally televised Live from Lincoln Center broadcast "New York City Ballet's Diamond Project: Ten Years of New Choreography" on PBS, dancing in Chiaroscuro and the May 2004 Live from Lincoln Center broadcast of "Lincoln Center Celebrates Balanchine 100," dancing in Concerto Barocco.