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.
Read more
Read less
