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Beloved Ashley Bouder took her
final bow at New York City Ballet,
bringing to a close a remarkable 25-year
career with the Company, including two
decades as a principal dancer. Her
farewell performance was a testament to
the profound impact she has had on two
generations of dancers and audiences
alike.
Taking the stage as the Firebird, a role
she first performed in 2001, Bouder
received five curtain calls. Standing on
stage to thunderous applause, each
member of NYCB (dancers, conductor,
first violinist, etc.) presented her
with flowers. By the end, a pile of
bouquets stood tall at her side. The
last was delivered by her 8-year-old
daughter, Violet de Florio, dressed in
red to match Ashley’s Firebird costume.
Said Bouder “If you weren’t crying with
me during the performance, you were by
then.”
Bouder’s farewell was followed by a
private celebration at Bowlero in Times
Square, where she traded her pointe
shoes for bowling shoes, with more than
100 friends and colleagues. The evening
also marked a new beginning - as she
announced, her organization, Ashley
Bouder Arts, dedicated to supporting
women choreographers and commissioning
new works, has already raised nearly
half a million dollars.
Born in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, Bouder
trained at Central Pennsylvania Youth
Ballet under Marcia Dale Weary, before
joining the School of American Ballet in
1999. She became an NYCB apprentice in
2000, a corps de ballet member later
that year, a soloist in 2004, and a
principal dancer in 2005. Over the
course of her inspiring career, she
showed brilliance and strength to
leading roles at NYCB, and left an
indelible mark on us. |