president & artistic director
 Jean-Pierre Bonnefoux joined North Carolina Dance Theatre and North Carolina Dance Theatre School of Dance in 1996. Born in France, he joined the Paris Opera Ballet at age 14 and was named Danseur Etoile at 21.
He has danced with the Bolshoi and Kirov Ballets and in 1970 became a principal dancer with the New York City Ballet under the direction of George Balanchine. In 1977, Bonnefoux joined the faculty of the School of American Ballet, the official school of the New York City Ballet, and began to realize his lifelong ambition of training young dancers. His final performance was in 1980, after which time, he dedicated himself to work as an artistic director, choreographer and teacher.
Bonnefoux’s choreography includes works commissioned by the New York City Ballet, The Lincoln Center Institute, the Metropolitan Opera Ballet Company, and the Pennsylvania Ballet.
Bonnefoux has served as choreographer and ballet master for the Pittsburgh Ballet, as chairman and artistic director of the Ballet Department in the School of Music at Indiana University, and is currently the artistic director, choreographer and teacher for the ballet company and the school at the Chautauqua Institute in New York.
Hometown: Bourg en Bresse, France
Family: wife, Patricia McBride; son, Chris; daughter, Melanie
Seasons with NC Dance Theatre: 12
Seasons with New York City Ballet: 12
Seasons with Paris Opera Ballet: 14, (started dancing professionally at age 14)
Favorite food: chocolate truffles
Only my mother knows: I wanted to be a conductor.
When I was a young boy: I acted in four movies.
My idol: Fred Astaire |
