Russell Kaiser

Russell Kaiser was born in Cleveland, Ohio, and raised in Seattle, Washington. He began his dance training at age five and entered the School of Pacific Northwest Ballet at age 13, under the direction PNB's Founding Artistic Directors Kent Stowell and Francia Russell. In 1984, Kaiser entered School of American Ballet, the official school of New York City Ballet, where he studied with Stanley Williams, Andre Kramarevsky and Richard Rapp under full scholarship. In the Fall of 1985, Kaiser began his II-year performing career with NYCB where he danced the works of George Balanchine, Jerome Robbins, August Bournonville, Peter Martins, John Taras, Twyla Tharp, and Richard Tanner, among others. Kaiser was an original cast member in Robbins' West Side Story Suite and /ves, Songs and Martins' Ash, Fearful Symmetries, Reliquary, and The Sleeping Beauty. Kaiser toured internationally to France, Japan, Denmark, Scotland, and Greece. He also appeared in multiple PBS broadcasts of "Dance in America" and "Live From Lincoln Center."