Janie Taylor

Taylor was born in Houston, and started ballet at age 2. She moved to New Orleans with her family when she was 12. In 1995, Taylor entered the School of American Ballet in New York, and dance lead roles at the school annual workshop during her last two years of training,{{cite news|url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/ballerina-interrupted-2306877520.html|title=Ballerina, interrupted|magazine=Dance Magazine|last=Woods|first=Astrida|date=July 1, 2009|access-date=January 7, 2021}} before graduating in 1998.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/28/arts/movies/the-listings-janie-taylor.html|title=The Listings; Janie Taylor|newspaper=New York Times|last=Dunning|first=Jennifer|date=January 28, 2005|access-date=January 7, 2021|url-access=registration}} She received the Mae L. Wien Award the same year.{{cite web|url=https://sab.org/our-supporters/the-mae-l-wien-awards/|title=The Mae L. Wien Awards|work=School of American Ballet|access-date=January 7, 2021}}

In 1998, Taylor became an apprentice with the New York City Ballet, and was taken to the corps de ballet a month later. The following year, at age 18, she danced the principal role in George Balanchine's La Valse. She was promoted to soloist in 2001 and principal dancer in 2005. She had dance lead roles by Balanchine and Jerome Robbins, and had created roles for Benjamin Millepied and Justin Peck.{{cite news|url=https://www.timeout.com/newyork/dance/janie-taylor-talks-about-new-york-city-ballet|title=Janie Taylor talks about New York City Ballet|website=Time Out New York|last=Kourlas|first=Gia|date=September 30, 2012|access-date=January 7, 2021}}

In March 2014, at age 33, Taylor and Sébastien Marcovici, her husband and a fellow principal dancer, both departed New York City Ballet following a performance of La Valse and Robbins' Afternoon of a Faun. The program was not chosen by them though the two believed it was suitable for their farewell. She had stated she decided to leave because Marcovici was retiring from performing and the two agreed that it would be best for both of them.{{cite news|url=https://www.pointemagazine.com/janie-taylor-and-sebastien-marcovici-on-life-after-nycb-2412800494.html|title=Janie Taylor and Sébastien Marcovici on Life After NYCB|magazine=Pointe Magazine|last=Fuhler|first=Margaret|access-date=January 7, 2021}}

In 2014, after Taylor left New York City Ballet, she moved to Los Angeles as Marcovici joined Millepied's company, the L.A. Dance Project, as a ballet master. Later that year, the couple moved to Paris when Marcovici became a ballet master with the Paris Opera Ballet, at the time directed by Millepied. During the two years Taylor lived in Paris, she staged works by Peck and Millepied for ballet companies in Europe and the U.S at the choreographers' request. Taylor returned to Los Angeles after Millepied left the Paris Opera Ballet, and she joined the L.A. Dance Project as a dancer. She made her choreographic debut in 2019, in a piece titled Adagio in B Minor.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/07/arts/dance/l-a-dances-festival-bella-lewitzky.html|title=For a Los Angeles Dance Festival, Reviving a Homegrown Modernist|newspaper=New York Times|last=Sulcas|first=Roslyn|date=November 7, 2019|access-date=January 7, 2021|url-access=registration}}

Taylor had appeared in the 2000 film Center Stage as a background dancer,{{cite news|url=https://www.dancespirit.com/center-stage-20-anniversary-2645786483.html|title=The Making of "Center Stage," as Remembered by Its Dance Stars|magazine=Dance Spirit|last=Fuhler|first=Margaret|date=April 22, 2020|access-date=January 7, 2021}} and served as a motion capture dancer for Barbie of Swan Lake.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/28/arts/dance-barbie-dances-with-help-from-city-ballet.html|title=Dance; Barbie Dances, With Help From City Ballet|newspaper=New York Times|last=Gladstone|first=Valerie|date=September 28, 2003|access-date=January 7, 2021|url-access=registration}}

While in the New York City Ballet, she often wears leotards she made. In 2014, she designed the costumes for Peck's Everywhere We Go, which was also her first job since she announced her departure from the New York City Ballet.{{cite news|url=https://www.marieclaire.com/celebrity/a9539/janie-taylor-new-york-city-ballet-costumes-justin-peck-sufjan-stevens/|title=When the Dancer Becomes the Designer|magazine=MarieClaire|last=Shapiro|first=Rebecca|date=May 8, 2014|access-date=January 7, 2021}} She later designed the costumes for Christopher Wheeldon's American Rhapsody and Joshua Beamish's Surface Properties, which are danced by New York City Ballet and the American Ballet Theatre respectively.{{cite news|url=https://www.elle.com/culture/a40346/janie-taylor-designing/|title=A Ballerina's Second Act|magazine=Elle|last=Clinton|first=Leah Melby|date=October 28, 2016|access-date=January 7, 2021}}

In 2004, Taylor was diagnosed with immune thrombocytopenic purpura, a rare autoimmune disorder, and had her spleen removed the following year.{{cite news|url=https://www.dancemagazine.com/janie-taylor-2497315405.html|title=Janie Taylor's Second Chapter—In Sneakers|magazine=Dance Magazine|last=Bauer|first=Claudia|date=October 23, 2017|access-date=January 7, 2021}}

Taylor married fellow principal dancer Sébastien Marcovici in 2012.

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• [http://janie-taylor.com/ Official website]

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Category:Living people

Category:Entertainers from Houston

Category:1980s births

Category:New York City Ballet principal dancers

Category:School of American Ballet alumni

Category:Mae L. Wien Award recipients

Category:American prima ballerinas

Category:21st-century American ballet dancers

Category:Dancers from Texas

Category:American expatriates in France

Category:21st-century American women