John Clifford

JOHN CLIFFORD

Producer/Director/Choreographer

BIOGRAPHY

Producer, director, and choreographer of CASABLANCA, The Dance,

www.youtube.com.casablancaspectacle John Clifford, founder and artistic director of both the Los

Angeles Ballet and the more commercially oriented Los Angeles Dance Theater, has had a long and

unusually varied career in theater and the dance world.

Born in Los Angeles, California, Mr. Clifford was first an actor and featured dancer on many

television series of the 1960’s, including the weekly musical variety shows starring Danny Kaye,

Dinah Shore, and dramatic anthologies such as Death Valley Days and the Donna Reed Show.

During these years Mr. Clifford also appeared with the New York City Ballet as “The Nutcracker

Prince” in their acclaimed production of George Balanchine’s, The Nutcracker, thus beginning his

long association with the master choreographer. Mr. Clifford joined the New York City Ballet in

1966 at age 19 and quickly rose to Principal Dancer status with a repertoire of over 45 leading

roles, many choreographed expressly for him by Balanchine, Todd Bolendar, John Taras, Jacques

d’Amboise, and Jerome Robbins.

Widely acknowledged as George Balanchine’s protégé, Mr. Clifford choreographed his first of

eight original ballets for New York City Ballet at 20 years of age, thus making him one of the

youngest choreographers in history to choreograph for a major company, second only to Balanchine

himself, who was 20 years old when he became a choreographer for Sergei Diaghilev’s “Ballets

Russes.” In his early twenties, Mr. Clifford also choreographed major ballets for the San Francisco

Ballet, Deutsche Oper Ballet (Berlin) the Royal Winnipeg Ballet (Canada), and for many

companies throughout the US.

Mr. Clifford founded the original Los Angeles Ballet in 1974 while still continuing as

choreographer and dancer with the NYCB. He soon after left that company to devote himself full-

time to the creation of this, the first professional ballet in Los Angeles’ history. This company

received unanimous praise for its five tours across the United States, Canada, Manila, and the Far-

East. During this period Mr. Clifford also directed and choreographed a national tour of the

musical, “L’il Abner” and his choreography was seen in several major Hollywood films, such as

“Flashdance,” “The Man Who Loved Women,” and “Modern Problems.” The Los Angeles Ballet

was also seen regularly on numerous television shows and appeared with the Rock groups

“Chicago” and “George Benson,” and with both the Los Angeles and New York City Philharmonic

orchestras.

An acclaimed international choreographer, Mr. Clifford’s ballets have been performed in the

repertoire of companies as far reaching as Monte-Carlo, Buenos Aires, Rome, London, and Berlin.

He has also been a guest Ballet-Master and Choreographer for the Bolshoi Ballet, (Moscow)

Mariinsky Ballet, (St. Petersburg) the Paris Opera Ballet, England’s Royal Ballet, Italy’s La Scala

and Rome Opera Ballets, and virtually every major company in the United States. Mr. Clifford has

choreographed works to music by Gershwin, Mahler, Stravinsky, Joplin, and even Sting, Annie

Lennox and Van Halen,

Mr. Clifford produced the video, “The Art of the Classical Pas De Deux” which received an

international release. He is currently developing several dance projects for film and television.