Roberta Sue Ficker Bio/Wiki, Net Worth, Married 2018
Suzanne Farrell (born August 16, 1945) is an eminent 20th century ballerina (often referred to as the greatest American lyric ballerina) and the founder of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.She was born as Roberta Sue Ficker in Cincinnati and received her early training at the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music. In 1960, she was selected to study at George Balanchine's School of American Ballet with a Ford Foundation scholarship; she started there in 1960 and joined the New York City Ballet (NYCB) in 1961.
I can never hope to make a lot of money. But I only need enough for cat food [she has nine] and the apartment. Union stagehands get much more for pushing a button than what most dancers get.
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I was a kind of good jack-of-all trades, which could be very dull indeed except for the one thing I did have, probably the thing Diana had seen in Cincinnati: I could move, and if I could incorporate what Balanchine wanted with my movement, it might blossom into something --it could be anything. I think that was interesting to Balanchine. With no image to uphold and no glory in any single area of technique, I never had the debilitating worry that I might lose my strongest point.
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I organized a ballet company from the girls in my ballet class. I called it the NYCB [New York City Ballet] Juniors.... I was twelve and my dancers were ten. I made up nice little dances for them, tutu roles. They would be the snowflakes, and I would be the snowman. I was the boss because I organized the company and I was the tallest. Dance magazine used to publish 'directions' or notations for various dances, and once I deciphered a dance from 'Swan Lake' for my company.
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"He [George Balanchine] had worked with dancers whose legs were thinner and went higher and could turn and jump better. I didn't think I excelled in anything at that time. I even asked him, 'What do you see in me?' I thought everyone looked better than I did. He said, 'You moved different; I like the way you move'".
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Fact
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Early on, she preferred tap to ballet as "she liked to hear her own movements" and disliked the values of conformity and exact technique that were necessary in ballet.
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Back in career heyday, one critic referred to her as "the sexiest lady in ballet today.".
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By age 10, she had organized a group of girls from her dance classes to form "The New York City Ballet Juniors." Suzanne instantly became the leader as she was the tallest.
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Her then-husband Paul Meja and her were first partnered in a production of "The Nutcracker" from George Balanchine's School of American Ballet.
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As a child, being the tallest in her ballet classes lead to her always being cast in the boys' roles. She was "always the prince, never the princess." This lead her to dislike ballet early on.
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It took her a while to finally take up Pointework as her feet grew so long and she had trouble finding toe shoes that would fit.
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Has referred to herself as "the one who got away" from famous choreographer and New York City Ballet founder George Balanchine. Romantically and artistically in love with Farrell, Balanchine divorced his fourth wife in order to marry her, but Farrell rejected Balanchine's proposal and married fellow New York City Ballet dancer Paul Mejia.
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Youngest of three girls; two older sisters, Donna and Beverley
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Awards: Special Award of Merit in Creative Arts, University of Cincinnati, and Mademoiselle Merit Award, both 1965; Dance Magazine Award, 1976; Mayor Koch's Award of Merit for Arts and Culture, City of New York, 1979; Creative Arts Award Medal for Dance, Brandeis University, and the Spirit of Achievement Award, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, both 1980; Emmy Award for dance performance in "Eight by Adler," 1985; named "Lion of the Performing Arts" by the New York City Public Library, and received the Golden Plate Award from the American Academy of Achievement, both 1987; New York State Governor's Arts Award, and Gold Medal, American-Irish Historical Society, both 1988; National Medal of Arts, 2003; 54th Capezio Dance Award, 2005, for her contribution to dance in the United States; has also received the key to the city of Cincinnati; honorary degrees from Georgetown University, Fordham University, Yale University, Notre Dame University, and University of Cincinnati and other dance awards.
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She received the 1960 Ford Foundation Scholarship for dance.
$1.4 Million
