Stephen Jefferies (dancer)


Stephen Jefferies is a ballet director and retired dancer.

Life and career

Jefferies was born in Rinteln, Lower Saxony, Germany in 1951, and grew up in Birmingham, England. At the age of 15, he was awarded a scholarship to study with the Royal Ballet School, and in 1969, he graduated to the Royal Ballet Touring Company. Within two months he was given the leading role of Prince Florimund in The Sleeping Beauty. American ballerina Gelsey Kirkland personally chose him to partner her when she danced the role after her defection from the American Ballet Theatre and America itself.
In the 1970s, Jefferies danced regularly at the Royal Opera House in modern works by Frederick Ashton and Kenneth MacMillan as well as in classics such as Swan Lake.