Leslie Carothers

Native to Southern California Leslie Carothers has enjoyed a long and prolific career. At 16 she graduated high school and moved to New York City to study with the Joffrey Ballet School. In 1979 she joined Joffrey Ballet II, and 9 months later she moved into the main company with many of her fellow II dancers. After many members of the main company left in 1979, Joffrey rebuilt his company with an almost entirely new cast. Leslie continued to move up in the ranks and eventually become a Principal. She danced with the Joffrey Ballet from 1980 to 1989. During her time with the company she danced the role of The Snow Queen in Joffrey’s Nutcracker and performed in Frederick Ashton’s The Dream and Robert Joffrey’s Postcards. She also made guest appearances with the Los Angeles Ballet, the New Jersey Ballet and Indiana Southfold Dance Theater. Later in her career she was a Principal Dancer with the Pennsylvania Ballet until she left in 2000. In 2005 she joined the faculty at the Colburn School where she is the artistic director of the Trudl Zipper Dance Institute in Los Angeles.

Song of the Wayfarer, Ballet of Los Angeles (1990)

Podcast Interview with Joffrey Mavericks:

https://soundcloud.com/sheri-m-candler/podcast-26-leslie-carothers

Further Reading: 

Interview: The Nutcracker Network. “The Warmth of a Snow Queen-Leslie Carothers-Aromaa” (March 2014):
http://www.thenutcrackernetwork.com/2014/03/11/leslie-carothers-aromaa/

Article: Philly.com. “Carothers Is Leaving Pennsylvania Ballet The Principle Dancer Said She Was “Just Moving On In My Life” (Apr 2000):
http://articles.philly.com/2000-04-01/living/25589604_1_david-krensing-pennsylvania-ballet-roy-kaiser

Review: New York Times. “Leslie Carothers Is a Ballerina Ablaze With Passion” (Dec 1987):
http://www.nytimes.com/1987/12/27/arts/leslie-carothers-is-a-ballerina-ablaze-with-passion.html

Article: Los Angeles Times. “DANCER: Back to Where Dance Began: Sugar Plum Fairy Pirouettes Back to Origin of Her Dance” (Dec 1985):
http://articles.latimes.com/1985-12-08/news/ga-14712_1_sugar-plum-fairy

 

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