Abi Stafford

Stafford was born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She started ballet when she was six. In 1998, she was admitted to the School of American Ballet in New York City as a full-time student.[2][3]

Stafford became an apprentice at the New York City Ballet in November 1999, and became a member of the corps de ballet two months later. Stafford received the Janice Levin Dancer Award in 2000-01, which was given to promising corps dancers of NYCB.[4]

Stafford was named soloist in 2002, and principal dancer in 2007. Her repertoire include The Nutcracker, Apollo and Dances at a Gathering.[2] She was one of the eight NYCB dancers that performed in Cuba in 2010.[5]

Stafford served as motion capture dancer for Barbie in the Nutcracker and Barbie of Swan Lake.[6]

Stafford was a teaching fellow at School of American Ballet between 2012 and 2016. She became a permanent faculty in 2016.[7]

Stafford's brother, Jonathan Stafford, was also a principal dancer at NYCB. Though the two are seldom paired together, she danced with him in his farewell performance.[8] Jonathan Stafford is now the artistic director of NYCB.[9]

Stafford's repertoire with the New York City Ballet includes:[2]

In 2015, Stafford gave birth to a son.[10]

Stafford has a history degree from Fordham University. She spent eight years to study part-time and graduated in 2018. She started to study law afterwards, and interned at The Legal Aid Society. She is expected to graduate in 2022.[11][12]