Jennie
Samogyi

Benois de la Danse nominee

Jennie Samogyi was born in Easton, Pennsylvania, and raised in Alpha, New Jersey. She began her ballet training at age seven, with Madame Nina Youshkevitch. Ms. Samogyi entered the School of American Ballet (SAB), the official school of New York City Ballet, when she was nine years old. She was cast as Marie in George Balanchine's The Nutcracker the following year. In the spring of 1993, Ms. Samogyi was made an apprentice with New York City Ballet. In the fall of 1994, she was invited to join the Company as a member of the corps de ballet. Ms. Samogyi was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1998 and became a principal dancer in December 2000.

Since joining New York City Ballet, Ms. Samogyi has danced featured roles in George Balanchine's Agon, Allegro Brillante, Apollo, Ballo della Regina, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (first and second movements), Concerto Barocco, Divertimento No. 15, Episodes (Concerto), George Balanchine's The Nutcracker (The Sugarplum Fairy and Dewdrop), Emeralds from Jewels, Liebeslieder Walzer, Raymonda Variations, Robert Schumann's “Davidsbiindlertdnze, ” Scotch Symphony, La Source, Stars and Stripes, Stravinsky Violin Concerto, Symphony in C (first, third, and fourth movements), Symphony in Three Movements, Tschaikovsky Pas de Deux, Tschaikovsky Piano Concerto No. 2, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Western Symphony, and Who Cares?; August Bournonville's Bournonville Divertissements; Ulysses Dove's Red Angels; Peter Martins' The Chairman Dances, Fearful Symmetries, The Sleeping Beauty (Lilac Fairy, Diamond, and Princess Florine), Swan Lake (Odette/Odile and “Pas de Quatre“), Tschaikovsky Pas de Quatre, and The Waltz Project; Kevin O'Day's Viola Alone; Jerome Robbins' Brandenburg, The Cage, Dances At A Gathering, Glass Pieces, Interplay, In the Night, and Piano Pieces; and Richard Tanner's Ancient Airs and Dances.

She originated roles in Stephen Baynes's Twilight Courante; Miriam Mahdaviani's Appalachia Waltz, In the Mi(d)st, and Urban Dances; Mr. Martins' Guide to Strange Places, Quartet For Strings, and Swan Lake; Kevin O'Day's Swerve Poems; Robbins' Brandenburg and West Side Story Suite; Susan Stroman's „Blossom Got Kissed” from Duke!; and Christopher Wheeldon's Polyphonia.

In May of 2002, Ms. Samogyi appeared in the Live From Lincoln Center broadcast of “New York City Ballet's Diamond Project: Ten Years of New Choreography”, dancing in Chiaroscuro and Viola Alone.

Ms. Samogyi is a recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award, the Princess Grace Foundation Award and the Martin E. Segal Award.

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