Position: Artistic Director

Affiliation with organization: 2002 – 2018

Contact: Facebook

Lawrence Rhodes was born in West Virginia in 1939 and discovered ballet when he was fourteen. Mr. Rhodes studied at the Ballet Russe School, and he began his career with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo from 1958-1960. In 1960, he became a principal dancer at the Joffrey Ballet. In 1964, Mr. Rhodes became a principal dancer with the newly-formed Harkness Ballet and was voted artistic director – while continuing to perform – four years later by his fellow company members. Mr Rhodes relocated to Amsterdam in 1970, joining the Het Nationale Ballet, where Mr. Rhodes became a permanent guest artist. Then, from 1971-1973, Mr. Rhodes was co-director of the Milwaukee Ballet. Beginning in 1972, he was guest artist (and subsequently a principal dancer) with The Pennsylvania Ballet where he danced with guest ballerina Natalia Makarova until 1978. After a tenure as teacher and chairman of the dance department at New York University, Mr. Rhodes spent a decade as artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens de Montréal. He has also participated as adjudicator for the Beijing International Invitational Ballet Competition, the Seoul International Dance Competition, and the Youth America Grand Prix. Lawrence Rhodes was appointed the artistic director of the Juilliard Dance Division in 2002, until 2017.