Carrie West Suslov
Associate Director,Trainee Program
Carrie West joined BalletMet Dance Academy after 17 years as a principal dancer with BalletMet. She received her early training in California under Barbara Crockett, former principal dancer with San Francisco Ballet, then continued with the Sacramento Ballet, under the direction of Ron Cunningham and Carinne Binda. Additional studies were done at San Francisco Ballet Academy, School of American Ballet, Marin Ballet and Houston Ballet Academy. Ms. West’s career consisted of many major classical ballets including Odette/Odile in Swan Lake, Aurora in Sleeping Beauty, Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, Kitri in Stanton Welch’s Don Quixote, Giselle, Sugar Plum in Nutcracker and was also the original Lucy in David Nixon’s beloved Dracula. Ms. West has also performed the principal roles in many Balanchine ballets including Serenade, Four Temperaments, Who Cares?, Diamonds, Stars and Stripes, Donizetti Variations and Symphony in C. She had the privilege of working with numerous choreographers including David Nixon, Stanton Welch, James Kudelka, Edwaard Liang, Amy Siewart, Dwight Rhoden and many others.
Ms. West holds a Bachelor of Arts from Capital University and was the recipient of the 2004 Violetta Boft Award for Artistic Excellence. Over the years she has been a guest teacher for BalletMet Dance Academy as well as other schools nationwide.