Early Life and Training
He is the only son of a Lutheran minister who became a prison warden in New York; their last name is pronounced "Stee-fell" and is German for "boot."
Stiefel began ballet training in Madison, Wisconsin at the Monona Academy of Dance at age eight. He became involved with classical dance through his older sister, who was taking a class. His teacher, Jo Jean Retrum, was interested in getting Ethan to take class because boys in ballet are a rarity. He studied for two years at the Milwaukee Ballet School under Judith Warren, Ted Kivitt and Paul Sutherland, and at the Central Pennsylvania Youth Ballet before moving to New York City to attend ABT's Studio Company (now known as ABT II)' and School of American Ballet on scholarship.
While there, Stanley Williams enrolled him in the company's men's special class where he trained alongside Rudolf Nureyev, Mikhail Baryshnikov and Fernando Bujones.
Read more about this topic: Ethan Stiefel
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