JennieSomogyi

Born in Easton, Pennsylvania, Jennie Somogyi was raised in Alpha, New Jersey. She began her ballet training at age seven, with Madame Nina Youskevitch. Ms. Somogyi 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. Somogyi 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. Somogyi was promoted to the rank of soloist in 1998 and became a principal dancer in December 2000.

Since joining New York City Ballet, Ms. Somogyi has danced featured roles in Balanchine's Agon, Allegro Brillante, Apollo, Ballo Della Regina, Brahms-Schoenberg Quartet (First and Second Movement), Concerto Barocco, Divertimento No. 15, Episodes (Concerto), George Balanchine's The Nutcracker™ (Sugarplum Fairy and Dewdrop), "Emeralds" from Jewels, Liebeslieder Walzer, Raymonda Variations, Robert Schumann's "Davidsbündlertänze", Scotch Symphony, La Sonnambula, 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, Union Jack, Walpurgisnacht Ballet, Western Symphony, Who Cares?; in August Bournonville's Bournonville Divertissements; in Ulysses Dove's Red Angels; in Peter Martins' The Chairman Dances, Fearful Symmetries, Mirage, Naïve and Sentimental Music, The Sleeping Beauty (Lilac Fairy, Diamond and Princess Florine), Swan Lake (Odette/Odile, Pas de Quatre, Russian), Tschaikovsky Pas de Quatre, The Waltz Project; in Benjamin Millepied's Plainspoken; in Kevin O'Day's Viola Alone; in Jerome Robbins' Brandenburg, The Cage, Dances at a Gathering, Glass Pieces, Interplay, In the Night, Piano Pieces; and in Richard Tanner's Ancient Airs and Dances and Sonatas and Interludes.

She originated roles in Stephen Baynes's Twilight Courante; in Miriam Mahdaviani's Appalachia Waltz, In the Mi(d)st, and Urban Dances; Mr. Martins' Guide to Strange Places, Quartet for Strings, The Red Violin and Swan Lake; Kevin O'Day's Swerve Poems; Mr. 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. Somogyi 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.

In 2002 the Princess Grace Foundation awarded Ms. Somogyi its highest honor, the Statue Award. She is also the recipient of the Mae L. Wien Award and the Martin E. Segal Award.