Bio
Jennifer Nairn-Smith, chosen to dance for both George Balanchine and Bob Fosse, is director of the Outback Studios and Akubra Contemporary Ballet Company. She has had a career that crosses both theatrical and concert dance boundries on stage, film and television. Jennifer grew up in Queensland, Australia, and at 17, she was awarded an R.A.D. Scholarship to the Royal Ballet School, London. Growing too tall (5' 10") for the Royal Ballet, Covent garden, at the time, she sought an audition with the New York City Ballet.
George Balanchine gave her a Scholarship to his School of American Ballet and, in time,after adjusting her technique from Royal Academy of Dancing, to Balanchine's, she entered the prestigious New York City Ballet. There she performed in thirty Balanchine Ballets, originating roles in ten of them. Namely," Brahms Schoenberg Quartet"," Diamonds" in the ballet trinity Emeralds, Rubies, Diamonds from" Jewels"," Movements for Piano and Orchestra", and more. She also danced Jerome Robbins and John Taras repetoires while a member of the New York City Ballet.
Six years later, she moved to Broadway, and danced in the original cast of the Tony-award winning musical,"Pippin" for director/ choreographer Bob Fosse. She also performed in the Hal Prince, Stephen Sondheim, Michael Bennett musical "Follies." After the birth of her son Cedric, she returned to New York and worked for Fosse again in the Academy Award winning movie, "All That Jazz". In Los Angeles she performed as a principle dancer in the fledgling Los Angeles Ballet with her former partner from the New York City Ballet, choreographer/dancer, John Clifford. In 1992, during the notorious week of the LA Riots, she performed "Go To Hell Kitty" for the first revival of Fosse's 1977 Broadway show "Chicago", in Long Beach, at the Center Theater. Rob Marshall directed, Ann Reinking choreographed, Bebe Neuwirth played Velma Kelly and Juliet Prowse played Roxie Hart.
She has choreographed numerous music videos, ( one of the most notorious is Motley Cru's "Girls, Girls,Girls") for MTV, TV, fashion and film. She is a master teacher for Balanchine Ballet, Fosse Jazz and Pilates techniques, teaching in California, New York and Australia and Moscow. For two years, she was World Wide choreographic consultant for "Moscow on Ice", the Moscow based skating show featuring Olympic Gold Medalists. She also choreographed and co-directed opening events for the twenty thousand seat stadium in Kobe, Japan. Steven Arnold, noted visionary director/photographer, conceived and co-directed this event "Cosmopolis"with her. Ryuichi Sakamoto was the composer, and SiYeu Chen produced the event.
In 2001, she began her Non -profit ballet company which reflects the diversity of Los Angeles. Akubra Contemporary Ballet Company. She is currently choreographing an original Ballet to Prokofiev's Quintet #5, in collaboration with the Thorton School of Music at USC. Master teacher for Balanchine and Fosse and Pilates techniques, she teaches always, passing on the legacy of all the great masters she had the fortune to learn from and work for.
