Ballet Connoisseurship

Faye Arthurs was born in Arlington, Virginia. She began her ballet training at the age of 11 with Carolyn Clark at the New Jersey School of Ballet. At the age of 13 she began studying with Jean Gedeon at the Pittsburgh Youth Ballet School. Ms. Arthurs entered the School of American Ballet in the fall of 1997. While a student at SAB, Ms. Arthurs originated a featured role in Christopher Wheeldon’s Scènes de Ballet, which premiered during New York City Ballet’s 1999 spring season. In June 1999, she became an apprentice with New York City Ballet, and in January 2000, she became a member of the corps de ballet. She graduated summa cum laude from Fordham University in 2013.

Silas Farley began his training when he was 7 years old in his hometown of Charlotte, North Carolina with Sal and Barbara Messina at King David Christian Conservatory. Mr. Farley trained at the School of American Ballet (SAB) from 2008-2012. He danced with New York City Ballet from 2012-2020. There he performed principal roles in the works of George Balanchine and Christopher Wheeldon and originated roles in ballets by Wheeldon, Lauren Lovette, and Justin Peck. From 2021-2023, Mr. Farley served as Dean of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute at The Colburn School in Los Angeles, CA. Mr. Farley is a former Alumnus Trustee of Professional Children’s School and serves on the Board of The George Balanchine Foundation. 

Following early ballet study in Pennsylvania with Marcia Dale Weary, Katrina Killian began her SAB training with the 1977 Summer Course and was subsequently enrolled in SAB’s Winter Term from 1979 to 1981. Ms. Killian became a member of the New York City Ballet in 1981 and was promoted to Soloist in 1989. Her repertory included several principal roles in works by George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, and Peter Martins. In 1997, she joined the School of American Ballet as a guest teacher upon retirement from New York City Ballet. She was appointed to the faculty in 1998. Ms. Killian currently also serves as Repertory Director for the New York City Ballet’s Education Department, staging productions featuring SAB’s Intermediate and Advanced students for NYCB’s Ballet Bridges programs, which reach over 2,000 public school children each year.

Lauren Lovette was born in Thousand Oaks, California, and began studying ballet at the age of 11 at the Cary Ballet Conservatory in Cary, North Carolina. She enrolled at SAB as a full time student in 2006. In October 2009, Ms. Lovette became an apprentice with NYCB and joined the Company as a member of the corps de ballet in September 2010. Ms. Lovette received the Clive Barnes Award for dance in December 2012 and was the 2012-2013 recipient of the Janice Levin Award. Promoted to soloist in February 2013 and to principal dancer in June 2015, she stepped down from her position at the company in 2021 in order to embark on a career devoted to dance and choreography in more equal measure. In 2022, Lovette received the distinct and historic honor of being named the very first choreographer in residence at the renowned Paul Taylor Dance Company.

Kay Mazzo auditioned for SAB’s Summer Course when she was 12 and attended the program for three consecutive years before moving to New York and enrolling as a full-time student in SAB’s advanced division in 1959. Following performances with Jerome Robbins’ Ballets U.S.A., Ms. Mazzo became a member of the New York City Ballet in 1961 and was promoted to soloist in 1965 and principal dancer in 1968. George Balanchine created principal roles for her in Tschaikovsky Suite No. 3 (1970), Stravinsky Violin Concerto (1972), Duo Concertant (1972), Scherzo à la Russe (1972), Union Jack (1976), Vienna Waltzes (1977), and Robert Schumann’s “Davidsbündlertänze” (1980), among others. She originated principal roles in the Jerome Robbins masterworks Dances at a Gathering (1969) and In the Night (1970). Upon her retirement from New York City Ballet in 1981, Mr. Balanchine asked Ms. Mazzo to begin teaching at the School of American Ballet, the official academy of New York City Ballet. She joined SAB’s permanent faculty in 1983, serving as a coordinator of curriculum between 1993 and 1997. She succeeded Stanley Williams as Co-Chairman of Faculty in October 1997, and in 2018 was named Chairman of Faculty. Ms. Mazzo retired from her role as Chairman of Faculty in June 2022 and continues to teach advanced classes.

Ms. Mazzo has been a Trustee of The George Balanchine Trust since 1987. She served as President of the Jury of the 2014 Prix de Lausanne international ballet competition.

Linda Murray is the fifth curator in the history of the Jerome Robbins Dance Division and manages all aspects of its collections and public service. She has previously worked with the dance collections at the Library of Congress and ran a multi-disciplinary arts organization in Washington, DC for seven years. Areas of specific interest include 20th century ballet and gender in performance, but Linda is also available for general consultations at the Library for the Performing Arts. A native of Dublin, Ireland, she has an undergraduate degree in French and Russian from Trinity College Dublin and holds postgraduate degrees in performance and library science from University College Cork and Clarion University respectively.

Suki Schorer began her professional career with the San Francisco Ballet and joined the New York City Ballet in 1959, becoming a principal dancer in 1968. Her repertory included principal roles in Apollo, Serenade, Concerto Barocco, Symphony in C, Stars and Stripes, Tarantella and Jewels among others. Balanchine choreographed solo roles on her in Don Quixote, Raymonda Variations, Harlequinade, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 1972, Ms. Schorer became a permanent member of the SAB faculty, teaching intermediate and advanced students. That same year at Balanchine’s request, she reorganized the NYCB lecture-demonstration program for public schools, which she oversaw until 1995.