From Balanchine's ballets at Lincoln Center, to major motion pictures, to the Broadway stage: a life devoted to the art of movement.
Ballet Master · Choreographer · Film & Television Ballet Coach
Kurt Froman is a ballet master and choreographer who teaches company class at New York City Ballet and Complexions Contemporary Ballet, and serves on the faculty of Steps on Broadway and Ballet Tech. A former New York City Ballet dancer, he spent seven years with the company, dancing more than 65 ballets by Balanchine, Robbins, Martins and Wheeldon, after receiving the first Rudolf Nureyev Scholarship to the School of American Ballet.
He is the ballet coach Hollywood turns to when ballet has to look real on screen. He was Associate Choreographer on Black Swan, where Natalie Portman thanked him in her Oscar acceptance speech, and trained Jennifer Lawrence for Red Sparrow. On Broadway he danced the lead in Twyla Tharp's Movin' Out and was Resident Choreographer of Billy Elliot.
A former Head of Faculty of the Men's Division at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, Kurt teaches the speed, musicality and clarity of the Balanchine tradition, and has a rare gift for making ballet understandable to dancers at every level.
A former New York City Ballet dancer and Broadway lead, Kurt is the choreographer and coach that filmmakers and stars turn to when ballet has to look real on screen.
On Black Swan he was Associate Choreographer, coaching Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel; he also understudied Siegfried and danced with Kunis, and Portman thanked him in her Oscar acceptance speech. On Red Sparrow he trained Jennifer Lawrence and oversaw the dance sequences choreographed by Justin Peck.
He coached Rooney Mara in Song to Song and Christina Ricci in Z: The Beginning of Everything, and has choreographed for Bloch, L'Oréal and Vogue. He appeared in Flesh and Bone, Center Stage, Across the Universe, Smash, Saturday Night Live and Live From Lincoln Center.
Kurt danced the lead role of James in Twyla Tharp's Movin' Out on Broadway and on tour, appeared in the Studio 54 revival of Pal Joey and in Encores! Juno and On Your Toes, and was original Dance Captain of An American in Paris. He was Resident Choreographer of Billy Elliot on Broadway and its national tour.
His ballet career began with the first Rudolf Nureyev Scholarship to the School of American Ballet. He spent seven years at New York City Ballet, dancing corps de ballet and soloist roles in more than 65 ballets by Balanchine, Robbins, Martins and Wheeldon. He danced principal roles with the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, danced with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet, appeared with American Ballet Theatre on its Romeo and Juliet tour, and was guest artist with Kansas City Ballet in Jewels.
Today Kurt teaches company class at New York City Ballet and Complexions and is on faculty at Steps on Broadway and Ballet Tech. He has been Head of Faculty of the Men's Division at Pacific Northwest Ballet School, has lectured at the School of American Ballet, has staged works for the Paris Opera Ballet and Ballett Dortmund, and has been featured in the New York Times, The New Yorker and Dance Magazine.
He knows how to teach ballet to lay people, to ease them in as best as possible.Francis Lawrence, director of Red Sparrow and The Hunger Games
Ballet coach to Jennifer Lawrence, Associate Choreographer and Ballet Master for the corps de ballet. Lawrence had never taken a ballet class; after four months of four-hour sessions, five days a week, she carried a Bolshoi prima ballerina on screen, in a pas de deux choreographed by Justin Peck to Stravinsky's The Firebird, alongside Sergei Polunin and Isabella Boylston.
Associate Choreographer. Trained and coached Natalie Portman, Mila Kunis and Vincent Cassel, oversaw the corps de ballet and advised the director. Portman, who won the Oscar for Best Actress, personally thanked him in her acceptance speech.
Ballet teacher, movement and partnering coach to Rooney Mara, a collaboration that continued with Vogue's "The Vogue 120".
Trained Christina Ricci for months and choreographed her solo en pointe as Zelda Fitzgerald.
Featured ballet solo as "Young Paul" and series regular as a Company Member.
Choreographer for L'Oréal True Match with Zoe Saldana, years of Bloch campaigns and catalogues, and the ASICS Hypergel-Sai commercial.
Center Stage, Across the Universe, Smash, Saturday Night Live, the Tony Awards and Live From Lincoln Center.
The Post profiled how Kurt turned Jennifer Lawrence, who had never taken a ballet class, into a convincing Bolshoi ballerina for Red Sparrow. The feature also covers his work preparing Natalie Portman and Mila Kunis for Black Swan, Christina Ricci for Z, Rooney Mara for Song to Song, and the young dancers of Broadway's Billy Elliot.
"I feel like I'm an ambassador for the ballet on film."
Kurt Froman to the New York Post
Mostly Classical Performing Arts brings Kurt to companies, schools, productions and private clients who need ballet that is precise, believable and beautifully taught.
