John Clifford

Who is John Clifford?

John Clifford, is best known as the creator of “Casablanca, The Dance,” produced by Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures, Inc. and his Los Angeles Dance Theater, and founder / artistic director of the original Los Angeles Ballet, and the chamber sized touring ensemble, Ballet of Los Angeles. Before that time, however, Clifford was a world-renowned principal dancer and choreographer with George Balanchine’s New York City Ballet, and guest artist from 1974–1981, and was widely considered to be Balanchine’s protégé.

Trained in Los Angeles by the legendary teachers Carmelita Maracci, David Lichine, Eugene Loring, Maria Bekefi, and Irina Kosmovska, his first ballet appearance was at the age of eleven as the “Nutcracker Prince” in Balanchine’s New York City Ballet production of “The Nutcracker” at the Greek Theater. Other early performances were as a regularly featured dancer on the Danny Kaye and Dinah Shore television shows. He also was a child actor often seen on the Donna Reed Show and Death Valley Days. His first major choreography, at age 16, was for a production of West Side Story for the Los Angeles Youth Theater. His other Los Angeles choreography was for an early attempt at the establishment of a resident ballet for Los Angeles, the “Western Ballet Association.” Clifford was a principal dancer and choreographer for this company, which was founded in 1965 by Balanchine under the name of “Ballet of Los Angeles.” The name was changed when Eugene Loring followed Balanchine as director of this short-lived company, but this is where Balanchine first became aware of Clifford’s choreography. After seeing rehearsals of these ballets Balanchine invited Clifford to New York to begin choreographing for his School of American Ballet.